


Reunions and Revelations

by Ghost_Toast



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conspiracy, Despair, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2019-07-10 17:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 35,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15953894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Toast/pseuds/Ghost_Toast
Summary: Canon Divergent as of "Back to the Kindergarten" Life has returned to as normal as it can be in Beach City. A few months after Lapis has taken the barn Peridot has gone through some changes after starting a relationship with our favorite purple rascal. One day a strange transmission comes in on the Wailing stone! Is it friend or foe? Only the Crystal Gems can figure it out and uncover a conspiracy bigger than Homeworld itself!





	1. A Normal Day?

Life on Earth had settled down somewhat. Peridot had moved into Steven’s house and she Steven and Amethyst had started a garden ontop of the hill near the lighthouse. They grew flowers, tomatoes, peppers and of course, pumpkins. Lapis had been gone for a few months and while she wasn’t officially a Crystal Gem everyone hoped she was safe and would come back. Steven would often stay up just a little bit longer hoping Lapis would appear. It wasn’t all bad however. Shortly after the garden began to sprout Peridot confessed her feelings to the little purple quartz. The two quickly became nearly as inseparable as Garnet. Peridot, through Amethyst’s encouragement had taken up many human habits such as eating and sleeping. She even had gained more skill with her powers often going out on missions with the Gems armed with her tablet, a set of tools, and various pieces of metal carried in a backpack. The Bubble Room in the temple had its fair share of gems suspended in lime green bubbles.  
One bright summer afternoon Amethyst and Peridot were out walking on the board walk with Steven, all three sharing a jumbo carton of fry-bits.  


“I’m actually surprised you’ve started eating Peridot.” Steven mused between bites.  


“I taught her well.” Amethyst said proudly tossing her now empty ketchup packet down her throat.  


“While initially disgusted with the activity I must admit it’s actually fairly enjoyable.” Peridot smiled. “So long as what it is I’m ingesting is edible by human standards. No offence Amethyst.”  


“None taken P-Dot.” The purple gem shrugged. “I kinda just woof down anything I get my mits on.”  


“I’ve been looking up some rest sippies, on my tablet, if you two would like to make something tonight.”  


“Sure Peridot!” Steven chimed. Amethyst agreed to help aswell.  
The Shorty Squad continued on their way to Funland. Peridot wanted to check out the ring toss booth on the off chance Mr.Smiley had rotated the Alien Plushies back as prizes. The little green technician wanted to win another to replace the one she’d lost when Lapis space-lifted the barn away. Unfortunately today would not be the day. The booth was lined with plushy yellow giraffes instead.  


“Aww.” Peridot sighed in disappointment.  


“I’m sorry Peri.” Amethyst put a hand on her girlfriend’s back. “We’ll check some other day.”  


“No, It’s ok.” Peridot smiled. “It’s just a toy. You know those giraffes have necks almost as long as that clod Yellow Diamond.” The trio erupted into laughter as they made their way back to the temple. The now empty fries carton had been eaten by Amethyst by the time they arrived. They entered the house and Steven called out.  


“No luck today.”  


“Oh Steven there you are.” Pearl greeted. “The wailing stone has been active again. Garnet’s with Greg at the car wash trying to decode the message but the signal is far more advanced this time.”  


“Ugh not that screaming rock again.” Amethyst griped.  


“Wailing Stone?” Peridot asked. “We have one of those? They haven’t been used for thousands of years. How are you getting a clear message?”  


“Dad has some sound equipment he hooks it up to.” Steven explained.  


“Peridot could you see if there is anything you could do to help?” Pearl asked.  


“I may have a few ideas but I’ll have to take a look first.” Peridot agreed.  


“Shorty Squad to my Dad’s Car Wash!” Steven called triumphantly.  


“Right!” Peridot and Amethyst gave a salute and the three dashed off to Pearl’s call of “Good luck!”  
The group found Greg hooking up the last of the AV equipment. The wailing stone was sitting in the back of his van, the microphone with the big honking sponge thing was already stuffed into it. Garnet turned to see the three small gems arrive.  


“Shorty Squad reporting for duty!” Steven said with a laugh. All three squad mates saluting.  


“At ease.” Garnet joked. “Peridot, think you could give us a hand?” Steven and Amethyst went to say high to Greg while Peridot inspected the various sets of equipment.  


“Ordinarily I’d say such a primitive and jerry-rigged equipment would never work.” She began. “However it looks like you’ve had success in deciphering the waves sent out by the stone in the past. This should work again.”  


“Alright then.” Garnet said flatly. She activated her electrical powers to power the equipment. Greg turned it on to static and garbled noise on the small tv in the van. Greg tuned the stone to the settings to those that gave a clear picture when Lapis used the stone but the picture and sound were still unintelligible.  


“That’s not right.” Greg said. “Any ideas Peridot?”  


“While every stone can receive any frequency from any other stone, they only produce one frequency for casting.” Peridot explained. She pushed various sliders and turned dials. The static changed and moved around the screen in different waves but no clear picture or sound. Peridot grmbled.  


“What is it?” Amethyst asked.  


“I’m trying every frequency I know but no luck.” Peridot elaborated. “Homeworld stones might be too much for this outdated model.” She kept trying.  


“Wait go back!” Steven called as a vague shape appeared on screen. Peridot readjusted and a silhouette of a Gem showed under a veil of static. Her voice was garbled and the static was too thick to see clearly.  


“It can’t be.” Peridot gasped as she began to make fine adjustments. “This is close to the Diamond’s private frequency.  


“What?!” Everyone cried at once. Finally something became clearer on the screen. The Gem still couldn’t be identified and her voice was distorted but the words ‘Crystal’ ‘coming for aid’ and ‘only hope’ could be made out before the screen blanked out entirely.  


“What happened?” Garnet asked from the front of the van.  


“The stone couldn’t process the Diamond’s complex frequency.” Peridot said. “I managed to record the frequency but the stone’s circuitry burned out. I’m sorry I couldn’t be much help.”  


“Nonsense.” Garnet praised. “We know that someone with high level access was trying to contact us. The question is who.”  


“You did great Peri.” Amethyst added giving her a kiss on the cheek.  


“Wow, thanks.” Peridot blushed. “I wonder if I can put together some kind of monitoring device so we can try to detect any incoming gem signatures or ships.”  


“That’s a great idea!” Steven agreed.  


“What will you need?” Garnet asked.  


“I can salvage equipment from various homeworld facilities around the planet.” Peridot said. “I’ll put together a list of what we need.”  


“Alright.” Garnet said. “Sounds good. Greg thanks again.”  


“Anytime Garnet.” Greg replied. “Happy to help.” With that the gems said good bye and headed back to the temple for the night. Peridot sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, amethyst, and her tablet putting together the list.  


“So you think you can make a scanner big enough?” Amethyst pondered.  


“I think so.” The green gem sighed, grabbing a hand full of popcorn. “For example the scanners in the Kindergarten can identify and moniter the growth of incubating gems. If I can get enough of them and arrange them into an array and amplify the signal than they should be able to pick up the signature of any gem th…”  


“Peridot was interrupted when Amethyst pressed her lips against her own. Stunned into silence Amethyst pulled back and giggled at her girlfriend’s expression.  


“I didn’t follow any of what you said but it sure sounded smart.” She teased.  


“Wow…thanks.” Peridot finally said looking Amethyst in the eyes. The two little gems exchanged another loving kiss and an embrace. Peridot usually followed her girlfriend’s lead, enjoying being held by the chubby quartz. After a few moments Amethyst pulled back.  


“It’s getting late Peapod.” She said taking her hand. “Let’s get to bed.”  


“Yeah.” Peridot yawned. “I’d like that.” Amethyst pulled Peridot up to her feet and led her into her room in the temple for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fingers crossed for my first fic here! I hope you've enjoyed it so far more to come as it's completed! Please leave a comment if you'd like!


	2. Back to the Kindergarten....again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the mysterious message Peridot puts her plan into action. Discussing a lost friendship along the way.

The next morning the gems were getting ready for the day. Steven and Peridot were having breakfast at the counter. Peridot was explaining her idea between bites of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

            “If we can salvage more parts from the injectors and the correct components from the Kindergarten control rooms we should be able to cobble together an extremely basic yet effective gem detection system.” She concluded.

            “Just how basic exactly?” Pearl asked arms crossed listening intently.

            “Basic enough to detect gems entering orbit but not advanced enough to give us exact number, types or even ship specifications.” Peridot elaborated.

            “That’ll have to do.” Pearl decided.

            “Unfortunate, but it’s better than nothing.” Peridot agreed. “I only wish I had this idea before Lapis left.” Peridot looked down at the few pieces of cereal floating in her bowl.

            “She’ll be back.” Garnet said calmly.

            “Thanks for trying to cheer me up Garnet, but if she wanted to come back she would have by now.” Peridot sighed. She excused herself to put her bowl in the sink and gather her things. Amethyst went with her

            “Did you see a future where Lapis comes back?” Steven asked hopefully.

            “Only that it’s a possibility.” Garnet said flatly.

            “Aww..” Steven sighed. The fused gem ruffled his hair.

            “I’ve learned that looking forward to much leads to missing out on the present.” Garnet smiled. Steven felt a little better and dashed off to finish getting ready.

            “So you’re not looking into the future for her?” Pearl asked.

            “I never said that.” Garnet deadpanned. With that she walked out of the house to wait for the others. Soon the gems were all set and were riding the rails to the Prime Kindergarten. Peridot was distant on the way there and when they arrived she only gave simple and apathetic descriptions of what they needed.

“I’ll need as many drill cores as you can get. I’ll get to cracking the old computers.” Pearl and Garnet handled dissembling the gem injectors for their sensor arrays. Peridot and Amethyst went off with Steven to salvage the needed computer parts. Peridot was still being apathetic. Amethyst asked Steven for a moment with her.

            “Ok Peri.” She asked. “What’s the matter? You’ve been in a funk since breakfast.”

            “Nothing.” Peridot insisted. Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

            “It’s about Lapis isn’t it?” The quartz guessed.

            “Yes..” Peridot relented. “I just thought that the Earth meant something to her, that our friendship meant something to her.” Peridot sniffed as Amethyst stroked the tears off her cheeks.

            “Peridot.” Amethyst comforted. “Lapis is just scared. She’s been through so much trauma and she’s learned to deal by running.”

            “I know.” Peridot sobbed again. “I just wish she stayed with us. The baseball game, the meepmorps, Andy, she was actually warming up to the rest of you.”

            “I miss her too.” Amethyst said. “She would have been an A rank Crystal Gem, but listen she can’t run forever.”

            “What makes you so sure?” Peridot sniffed doubtfully. She was quickly scooped into a tight hug.

            “Because you taught me not to run from my issues.” The purple gem confided. “Lapis may be on her way to learn that lesson too.” Peridot sniffed long and hard and Amethyst held Peri at arm’s length. “Now if we want to make sure we  have a planet for Lapis to comeback to we gotta get your scan thingy working.” Peridot began to build her confidence again.

            “Yeah! You’re right!” she said. “What are we waiting around here for!? To the control room!” They grabbed Steven and began tearing circuit boards and wires from the terminals around the control hub. They even got lucky and found a few gem ship drive launch programs

            “This is perfect!” Peridot bounced. “Now we can send some of the transponders into a low orbit and improve the system as a whole!” Steven and Peridot began loading all the components into his shield and Amethyst tied her whip around it and the trio began hauling it back to Garnet and Pearl. Peridot was rambling about how the sensor array would work using words and technical phrases that the other two couldn’t follow. Amethyst was just happy seeing Peri out of her funk. They joined up with the others and began the trip back to the temple. Steven and Amethyst began to scatter the completed sensors around Beach City while Peridot, Garnet, and Pearl assembled the others. As the sun was setting there were only three scanners left. The gems had gathered at the base of the temple as Peridot was about to launch them into the sky.

            “Ok 3, 2, 1, launch!” Peridot pressed the button and the improvised rockets shot off the ground carrying the sensors up and into the sky. A few moments later her tablet dinged. “Orbit above Beach City achieved!” She announced. “Now all that’s left is attaching the final piece to the highest point in the city.”

            “That’s the top of the lighthouse.” Pearl said.

            “Correct!” Peridot confirmed. “We can climb up to the beacon from the inside and I should be able to float the device onto the spire and attach it.” Pearl and Peridot began climbing up the spiral staircase to the top. True to her word Peridot used her powers to float the device to the top of the spire. A pair of laser bolts from Pearl’s spear welded it into place. Once again her tablet beeped. On the way down Peridot showed Pearl the screen.

            “Green, across the system!” She smiled. “It’s actually working!” Pearl congratulated the green technician and once on the ground Peridot showed it off to the others. “We did it!” They all shared congratulations when Steven noticed a blip appear on screen.

            “Wait what’s that?” He asked. Peridot franticly turned the tablet around.

            “A gem?!” She gasped. “Already?! That shouldn’t be possible!” Garnet ordered everyone to the beach. By the time they arrived at the water’s edge the gem had entered the atmosphere. The Crystal Gems watched as a blue light streaked down from the sky and landed several yards away in a sandy crater. Rushing to inspect the crash site the gem inside it shakily stood up, clearly exhausted from an incredibly fast flight and the crash landing.

“LAPIS!” Steven shouted ecstatically dashing over to hug his friend. While Lapis was able to put her arms around the young half gem she only had enough time to look up at the other crystal gems to say.

            “Homeworld is coming.” Lapis fell limp as she passed out. The gems exchanged worried looks. Garnet scooped up the unconscious blue gem and the group retreated into the temple. Peridot looked at the scanners on the tablet. No other signals appeared.

            Lapis didn’t wake up again until late afternoon the next day. She sat up holding her head still a little groggy. The first thing she noticed was that she was now sitting on a couch inside a structure she assumed was Steven’s house. A pillow rested on its arm and a thin blanket covered her from the waist down. She looked around the house seeing Peridot in the kitchen facing away from her. The Ocean Gem stood slowly, her blanket falling away. She went to take a step only to fall to one knee. Peridot heard Lapis gasp and turned around to see Lapis trying to get back up. Peridot practically dove off her stool to help Lapis stand.

            “Take it easy.” Peridot soothed, as she moved her shoulder under Lapis’ arm. “Let’s sit you back down.”

            “I’m sorry.” Lapis groaned.

            “It’s ok.” Peridot insisted. “You’re still in shock from your rough landing.” Lapis lowered herself back onto the couch. Peridot noticed Lapis’ eyes tear up.

            “I mean for leaving!” Lapis choked. “I wasn’t going to come back, I promised myself I wouldn’t but I..I”

            “Shhh.” Peridot interrupted. “That doesn’t matter right now. You’re safe now and the others will be back to hear your story all at once. Get some rest ok?”

            “Ok.” Lapis sighed as she lay back down. Something on the stove began to boil over and Peridot dashed over to turn off the heat.

            “My ramen!” She cried! Luckily she was able to salvage it and got her bowl ready.

            “You eat now?” Lapis asked from the couch. Peridot sat down on the far end of the couch from Lapis and started slurping down her noodles.

            “That’s right.” Peridot said as a matter of fact. “I sleep too. I’m practically human myself at this point.”

            “You seem to be doing well.” Lapis observed.

            “I wasn’t at first.” Peridot admitted.  “Watching you leave was…difficult.”

            “I’m so sorry Peridot.” Lapis sighed looking away from her old roommate. “I know it’s no excuse, I was panicking, I just didn’t want to be…broken again. I was incredibly selfish and I don’t know how I can make it up to you and Steven and…”

            “You’re right.” Peridot interrupted.  “You we’re selfish, and dismissive of what I felt. I assumed you would’ve talked to me about your problems sooner or later but I was wrong.”

            Lapis felt Peridot’s judgmental gaze upon her. She couldn’t bear to make eye contact.

            “But you came back.” Peridot finished. This made Lapis look up at last. “You decided to stop running. To come back and warn us.You never did stop caring about this new home we made here. It’ll be a while before I’ll be ready to completely forgive you but, it means a lot that you decided to come home. I’m glad you did. Our little family wasn’t the same without you.”

            “I don’t know what to say.” Lapis said. She thought back to everything that had happened to her after her release from the mirror. True there was a lot of bad. Like wow there was a lot of bad. But most if not all the good was right here on earth. “I guess we all were like a family.”

            “Anyway” Peridot continued trying to change the subject “Steven and Amethyst tried to cheer me up. First we tried planting stuff at the kindergarten. When that didn’t work we tried a mch better spot behind the house. I started training with Pearl to hone my metal powers!” She briefly floated her fork to demonstrate.

            “Amethyst and I started dating…”

            “Wait what?!” Lapis interrupted. “You and Amethyst?!”

            “Correct.” Peridot blushed. “She makes me feel…special. I don’t know how to explain it. One day after a mission I just started telling her how I felt and she and I have been together ever since.”

            “Well, congratulations.” Lapis said. “Is there anything else going on I should know?”

            “The gems and I have been carrying on with protecting the planet.” Peridot elaborated. “Corrupt gems here and there, raiding old Homeworld facilities for activity, so far no signs of Homeworld on the way, we even managed to get a detection system rigged up but so far it’s only detected you.”

            “How long was it up before I came back?”

            “About two minutes.” Peridot admitted. Lapis snorted as she chuckled.

            “Where are the other gems?” Lapis asked.

            “They went on a mission to investigate a monster sighting.” Peridot explained after another fork full of ramen. “No doubt another corrupted gem, I offered to stay behind in case you woke up.”

            “I uh..” Lapis sighed. “I lost the barn.”

            “That’s ok Lapis.” Peridot smiled. “I found an archive of Camp Pinning Hearts online and the rest of that stuff was just stuff. You’re safe and that’s what matters.”

            “I did manage to save one thing though.” Blue light began to shine from Lapis’s gem producing a familiar green toy.

            “My plushie!” Peridot exclaimed scooping it up as Lapis presented it. Peridot squeezed the alien in the biggest hug her tiny arms could muster! “I know I say this a lot but, Wow Thank you so much Lapis!” When Lapis didn’t respond Peridot glanced over to see Lapis fast asleep. 

            “Yeah, you should get your rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two done! Please leave feedback if you'd like! I want to make this story the best it can be!


	3. Recap and Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lapis' return Peridot finally gets some closure, and the rest of the gems have their own questions. And just who was it that sent that message!

            Lapis was later woken up by the sound of the warp pad activating. Steven, Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst materialized onto the pad and stepped into the living room. Steven was the first to dash over to her. The two shared a long hug before the others settled in.

            “We missed you so much Lapis!’ Steven cried. “

            “At first I didn’t want to come back at all.” Lapis admitted. “I missed you guys but I just couldn’t bring myself to get into another war.”

            “It’s ok Lapis.” Steven soothed. “You were scared. We’ve been worried about the Diamonds ever since Aquamarine came.”

            “Not just the Diamonds.” Lapis faulted, leading to the others giving her confused looks. “I ran from the fact that I was starting to feel…comfortable. It all felt too good to be true. I spent thousands of years trapped in a mirror, being yelled at for information about a cause I had no stake in. I couldn’t do anything to get away, I was stuck in an endless loop only able to respond by replaying what I had seen, unable to speak for myself. So I took the first chance I had to leave and go back to what I thought was my Homeworld, only to find a place I couldn’t recognize any more. And when I found myself on that ship with Peridot and Jasper coming back I was promised I’d finally be left alone if I just went along with the mission.”

            Peridot tried not to squirm in her seat remembering her own place on that mission. Amethyst took her hand to keep her calm as Lapis continued.

            “But I ended up trapped in a prison of my own making thinking I was protecting the only person I could remember treating me like a person and not a tool to be used and thrown away.”

            Steven couldn’t help but smile a little. He hadn’t realized he made such a big impact on Lapis.

            “And when you all came to my rescue again and let me stay in the barn.” Lapis went on. “I couldn’t bring myself to fully accept it. A place where I could do anything I wanted? Something else had to go wrong. Every day I became more and more anxious. And when Steven told me about the trial and that the Diamonds were investigating Pink's shattering I knew I had to just…get away. “

            “What made you decide to come back?” Garnet asked.

            “I realized I was alone. I kept thinking about what Peridot said. About Earth being her home.” Lapis answered. “And I thought back when Andy showed up and realized it was…fun. ” Lapis searched for her words. “It was a real taste of having people actually care about me and I ran from it, I’m sorry.”

            The gems all glanced at eachother.

            “Does this mean that?” Steven asked.

            “I want to stay.” Lapis said. “If you’ll have me.” The gems looked at each other and nodded simultaneously

            “Welcome back Lapis.” Garnet said happily.

            “Yeah!!” Steven cried wrapping Lapis in a hug followed by the rest of them. “The family is back together.

            “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Lapis sighed. She let herself relax and enjoy the moment.

            “Now.” Garnet broke the silence. “What did you mean by Homeworld is coming?”

            “When I was in space, I stole communication equipment from abandoned gem facilities so I could stay one step ahead of them.” Lapis explained. “For the longest time it worked but then I heard a new broadcast. A rogue ship broke protocol and flew off Homeworld, for whatever reason they tried to stop it. The report said the ship was heavily damaged, but it got away and was coming here. I had to leave the barn if I wanted any chance to make it here to warn you in time.” The gems had been listening to Lapis tell her tale in dead silence.

            “This had to have happened pretty recently.” Pearl deduced. “What I don’t understand is how Lapis got here before this rogue ship. Even if Lapis was only with in this galaxy any Homeworld ship can traverse the distance in mere hours.”

            “Perhaps the ship’s Warp drive was damaged during its escape?” Peridot suggested. “I’ll monitor our new scanners rigorously until I get a response.”

            “Lapis!” Steven cut in. “We recently received a transmission on our wailing stone. Do you have any idea who could have sent it?” He quickly explained what had happened.

            “Sorry Steven.” Lapis frowned. “I’ve no clue. I bolted as soon as the report finished. I didn’t even think to send a transmission of my own.”

            “I understand.” Steven smiled. “The important thing is you’re safe with us and we’ll be ready for whenever Homeworld comes back!”

            “In any case.” Garnet continued. “Our priority is to decipher the recording Peridot saved and discover the identity of our sender.”

            “I’d also like to upgrade our scanner array as soon as possible.” Peridot suggested. “I found the location of communication hub with the information I’ve acquired from the Kindergarten.” Peridot suggested. “I could attempt to decode the recording there, and bring back more components for the array” Peridot typed in a few commands on her tablet. “It’s deep in the jungle in what the humans call…Central America.”

            “Yay! Gem data retrieval mission!” Steven shouted with his fists in the air. Lapis found herself smiling at Steven’s enthusiasm. It was one of the things she missed in space.

            “Then we’ll go the Com terminal tomorrow.” Garnet agreed. “Untill then we’ll take the night to relax and get well rested.”  Garnet and Pearl went into the temple to attempt fixing the old wailing stone, leaving Lapis with Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot to get acquainted with her new home.

            “So.” Lapis responded. “Anything happen while I was away?”

            The three of them set up one of Steven’s many board games and began to tell Lapis everything that had happened since she left. Sadie quiting her job at the Big Donut and starting a band with the cool kids, Former Mayor Dewey taking it over after losing his position to Nanafua. Lars, becoming a space captain with a rag tag crew. Lapis found the last one the most amusing.

            “Wait so this Lars guy is flying around space with a bunch of misfit gems in an Emerald’s personal starship!?” Lapis summarized trying not to laugh.

            “It’s not that different than us Crystal Gems really.” Peridot supposed. “I’d be interested in meeting these ‘off-colors’.”

            “You make friends with the weirdest people Stevo” Amethyst laughed.

            “Yeah.” Steven continued. “So after that Stevonie had a dream vision of Yellow and Pink Diamond having an argument.”

            “Not much is known about Pink Diamond.” Peridot said, moving her piece a few spaces. “And after my incident with Yellow I suspect much of what is known is misinformation anyway.”

            “What did you think of them during the trial Steven?” Lapis asked. “Blue and Yellow had a reputation of being skilled leaders. Blue was always seen as more malicious of the two.”

            “Not anymore.” Steven sighed. “Yellow wanted to shatter me right then and there but Blue wanted answers. Losing Pink really affected her. She was still scary of course but, she lost someone she loved. I felt bad for her.” The conversation died down and after a few turns Peridot asked Steven if any of the vegetables and fruits were ripe in the garden.

            “I’m not sure.” Steven said. “We should go check.”

            After the game was packed up the four climbed up to the spot near the lighthouse.

            “It’s almost like the fields.” Lapis said looking at the garden.

            “Steven Amethyst and I often pick the veggies that are ripe to use in cooking.” Peridot said proudly. “And yes, it’s like our old fields but smaller.”

            “Ooo look!” Steven said. “A few of these tomatoes are ready!”

            “You know what that means!?” Peridot gasped.

            “Spaghetti Night!” Steven and Amethyst shouted!

            “What?” Lapis said with visible confusion. Steven tried to explain pasta and sauce while showing her what tomatoes were ready. A little while later in the house Peridot and Amethyst were busy making the raw tomatoes into the sauce and Steven was showing Lapis how to boil the pasta. Lapis even helped by boiling the water with her powers.

             Soon dinner was ready and Steven Amethyst and Peridot piled their plates high with carb filled goodness. Amethyst’s was more parmesan than marinara. Pearl and Garnet had returned having no luck finding a working stone and joined them. The group began discussing the recent events again.

            “No luck fixing the stone?” Lapis pondered.

            “Unfortunalty.” Pearl sighed. “The circuitry is completely destroyed.”

            “I can’t really wrap my head around it.” Amethyst wondered after a longer than necessary slurp of pasta. “Who on Homeworld would go out of their way to specificly contact us?”

            “All we know for sure is that whoever it was, they had access to Diamond level clearance.” Peridot reminded everyone.

            “It would appear the question remains.” Pearl said. “Was it someone who has the clearance to get in no questions asked? Or did they sneak in? Was it a waning or a call for help?” No one had any answers.

            “Until we decipher the recording we’ve got no way of knowing.” Garnet said adjusting her glasses. “No matter the circumstance we have to get into that communication hub tomorrow.”

            “Right!” The others said in solidarity. Lapis couldn’t help but smile at her untouched plate. She’d missed the comradery the Crystal Gems shared. After dinner was finished and everything was cleaned up everyone went to their respective rooms for the evening. Pearl and Steven made the couch into a makeshift bed for Lapis.

            “Peridot told me you like to sleep sometimes.” The half gem grinned.

            “Thanks Steven.” She yawned.

            “Welcome to the Gems Lapis!” Steven hugged Lapis again. The blue gem ruffled his hair.

            “I don’t think I’m quite ready to declare myself a Crystal Gem yet Steven.” Lapis said. Steven looked a little disappointed.

            “But I’m not going to run this time.” Lapis promised.

            “Good to hear!” Steven smiled.

            Pearl then tucked Steven in for the night and the little half quartz was soon fast asleep. Before retiring to her own room for the night she spoke to Lapis.

            “I um..” Pearl started. “I wanted to apologize about the mirror.”

            “Right..” Lapis looked away.

            “Honestly we should have known better.” Pearl admitted. “I don’t have an excuse. We were wrong, about a lot of things, back then especially.” Lapis put up a hand and Pearl stopped talking.

            “Look.” Lapis said. “That was a while ago. If I held it against you and the others I wouldn’t be here. You should just be happy Steven ran off with the mirror when he realized I was in it.”

            “He’s a remarkable boy.” Pearl smiled.

            “I’m still not sure about becoming part of your group but I’m staying for Steven and Peridot.” Lapis admitted. “You Garnet and Amethyst I’m still wary about.”

            “I don’t blame you.” Pearl sighed. “I’d be the same way if I were in position. Thank you for a second chance. See you in the morning?” Lapis only nodded as she put her pillow into place and pulled up the blanket. Pearl entered her room and as the temple door shut Lapis whispered a quiet you’re welcome. She looked up at the ceiling listening to Steven’s light snoring. She fell asleep feeling comfortable and safe for the first time in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought Lapis deserved some better development. I like her alot but something would have been better than here then gone then here again.


	4. The Tower.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gems depart on their mission to the Com Tower deep in the Jungle

“Lapis.” Peridot’s voice stirred her from her sleep. “Lapis wake up.” Her eyes opened to Peridot WAY to close to her face! Lapis pushed her away gently and rolled over.

            “Five more minutes.” She groaned.

            “Aww come on Lapis!” Steven laughed. “You already slept through breakfast.”

            “Fine I’m up I’m up.” Lapis pushed herself up off the couch and ruffled the half gem’s hair.

            “We’ll be leaving shortly.” Garnet said.

           “Is there room for one more?” Lapis asked.

           “You up for it?” Garnet quizzed. “Could be dangerous.”

            “Yeah.” The Ocean Gem replied. “I’ll follow your lead.”

            “You’re coming with us?” Amethyst asked surprised.

            “Beats sitting here doing nothing all day.” Lapis smirked.

            “Welcome aboard.” Garnet said simply. With that everyone started getting ready to go. Steven packed supplies into his cheeseburger backpack while Peridot stuffed her own pack with her tools, pieces of metal to use with her powers, and her tablet. The pair bumped backpacks and called out.

            “Backpack buds!”

            “Nerd alert!” Amethyst teased, receiving a light jab in the shoulder from her girlfriend. Meanwhile Pearl was giving Lapis a quick rundown of how their missions usually went.

            “Normally there’s a corrupted gem or two lurking around these old facilities.” She explained. “We think it might be comforting for them to be around something familiar, even if they can’t remember why.”

            “Makes sense.” Lapis said flatly.

            “We’ll have to be careful.” Pearl went on. “They can be extremely territorial, and given the nature of corruption they can be very unpredictable.”

Lapis nodded.

            “Alright, time to get going.” Garnet announced.

            “Onward team!!!” Peridot shouted dashing for the warp pad. The others followed and the pad flared into life carrying them away. When the light dissipated the gems were standing on a pad in the middle of a lush jungle. The trees were tall and the ground was cast in vast shadows from the thick canopy.

            “Any idea, where the tower is?” Steven asked.

            “I’d point us in the right direction.” Peridot cut in, pulling up a map on her tablet. “But, these trees are so dense I can’t see any discernible land marks.”

            “I’ll fly up and take a look.” Lapis said as she took off. She shot through the foliage and looked around. Not too far away, a large structure jutted above the trees. It was defiantly of Gem origin. The transmitter antenna was bent and several windows were broken. Several trees and plants had slowly reclaimed the building. It was like the Earth was fighting back. She flew back down and directed the others. “It’ll be a walk but it’s not too far.”

            “Nice work.” Garnet praised and the group began walking. Pearl was infront cutting through the thick brush with her spear. Lapis found herself staring around at all the trees and the various creatures that would dart in and out of the foliage. The air was thick and damp.

            “This place is…” Lapis trailed off. She was thinking about the time Steven was showing her around Earth the first time. It was still as mesmerizing.

            “Did you say something L?” Amethyst chimed in arms behind her head. Lapis snapped out of her staring.

            “What? No nothing.” Lapis insisted. Pearl cut through a few more of the thick brush and the tower loomed in front of them. The main door looked like it was smashed in by something large a long time ago.

            “Whoa bro!” Amethyst gasped. “Someone wanted in there pretty bad.”

            “Or something.” Garnet added. “Everyone be alert. It could be dangerous.” Garnet took point with the other following close behind. Spotlights emanated from their gem stones as the group looked around. Most of the equipment as destroyed with several twisted tree branches and plants growing from the consoles. The once immaculate walls were cracked and broken letting in sunlight from outside. The gems moved deeper into the room. Moving past the rows and rows of shattered monitors and cracked wailing stones.

            “I have to admit this place is giving me the creeps.” Amethyst said rubbing her shoulder.

            “We should find the main terminal at the center of the tower.” Peridot advised. “I can pinpoint the location of the  main server from there.”

            Garnet led the group farther towards the center of the tower. The light grew even fainter as they went. Something brushed past Lapis’s leg.

           “What was that?!” She jumped.

           “What is it?” Pearl asked as the group stopped.

           “Something just scurried past us.” Lapis insisted.

           “I didn’t hear anything.” Amethyst countered.

           “I felt something!” Lapis insisted.

           “Ok everyone calm down.” Garnet intervened. “We’re all a bit jumpy. Just stay alert.” With that the group started up again. Gemstones shining like colored spotlights across the hallway. Finally the narrow hallway opened up into a large ring shaped chamber with a spiral staircase running up the outside walls. Climbing up into the central spire of the tower passing murals of the Diamonds carved into the stone.

           “Whoa.” Steven gazed. “It’s a lot like the moon base.”

           “That would make sense.” Peridot elaborated. “Many of the early colonizing facilities followed a base floor plan that allowed for efficient yet modifiable construction.”

           “Uh..guys.” Steven brought everyone’s attention to the floor. It was littered with dozens of spherical little robots leaking a strange goo-like substance.

           “Flask Robonoids?” Peridot gasped.

           “Look!” Lapis pointed. A robonoid was still barely functional. It was dragging itself towards the center of the room. It shell was cracked in several places and was rapidly losing power. Just before reaching a large reception desk in the center, the poor goo filled robot shut down and slumped over of power loss. “That must have been what brushed past me.”

           “Oh sweet!” Amethyst chimed in. “Goo balls!” Immediately she began to kick a few of the closest ones together giggling at the clicking sound they made. Lapis noticed Peridot buried in her tablet.

           “What is it?”

           “We must have found a Hub Tower.” Peridot said. “These towers gather data from the smaller com towers they connect too and store it in a special database far below the ground. Every single transmission this base has ever sent or received is several floors below us. The robonoids are supposed to be down there preforming round the clock maintenance.”

            “And what does that mean?” Amethyst quizzed.

           “It means that there must be some parts of the facility are still functioning, damaged certainly but functional” Peridot replied. “Otherwise the robonoids would all still be functioning normaly. I’d hypothesize without gems here to maintain the equipment the robonoids aren’t equipped for the power core only has enough power to keep a fraction of the swarm charged.” Peridot climbed up onto the desk and activated the built in console. A map of the tower appeared on the screen. The entire top section was shown in red with the second floor, ground floor and vast majority of the underground area in yellow. Finally there was a small section labeled in green.”

           “It looks like what power is left is being directed to the main server.” Pearl realized.

           “Precisely.” Peridot nodded. “I’m willing to bet that the green area here is our best bet. Once I download a large enough sample of the frequency recordings stored in the main server I can fabricate a program that can decipher the message we received.”

           “Uhhh, what?” Lapis said.

           “Ya wanna fly that past us again P-pod?” Amethyst asked. Peridot huffed.

           “I get the data from the server and I can make a program that translates the message.”

           “We need a way into the lower levels then.” Lapis said.

           “That looks like a way in here.” Pearl pointed at the screen.

           “According to this schematic that’s the main service hatch.”  Peridot interpreted. “It should be.” Peridot began looking around. “This way!” She dropped off her seat and motioned the rest of the gems towards a large door behind the reception area. Peridot jumped up and slapped the control panel. But nothing happened. Again and again the angry space dorito smacked the activator but still nothing.

           “Oh what?!” She fumed. “Ok so the terminal has power but this clodding door doesn’t?!”

           “Let me try.” Lapis said summoning her wings. She jammed them into the tiny slit between the two heavy slabs and began trying to pry the door open. Her face began to flush purple from the effort as the doors budged a smidge. Garnet summoned her gauntlets and began to help. The two gems grunted as the door ground against the floor and its frame. Lapis and Garnet finally stopped out of breath when the door was open just widely enough for the group to squeeze through. Lapis had fallen on to her back after releasing the door.

           “Can we….take a….second…”She gasped.

           “Oh you wuss.” Peridot teased pulling her up. “Come on.”

           One by one the group squeezed through the narrow opening into another cramped hallway. Their footsteps echoed in the confined space. Pat…pat….pat…pat….squik!

           “What on Earth!” Pearl cried as she shook a thick fluid from her foot.

           “Oh ho gross!” Amethyst smirked. “More goo!”

           “The whole hallway is covered in it!” Sure enough as the gems looked around they could see nothing but robonoid goo dripping down the walls gathering into puddles on the floor.

           “The robomoids must be going haywire.” Peridot guessed. “They must be attempting to repair everything they come across leaving everything drenched like this.”

           “We have to keep going.” Garnet said simply, her feet slapping into the goo puddles.

           “Hmm” Peridot murmured. “All this is gonna soak into my socks.”  Amethyst suddenly slid on her stomach between Peridot’s legs and stood up, scooping Peridot onto her shoulders.

           “I got ya girl!’ She said. Peridot laughed.

           “Onward my trusty steed!”  Amethyst made a neighing sound and started off after Garnet. Lapis summoned her wings again as Steven summoned his shield. Lapis lashed water tendrils around the shield and flew gently in the air tugging Steven behind her using the shield as a make shift sled. Pearl was stuck walking through the goop with Garnet.  Peridot began directing the group from her perch on Amethyst’s shoulders. As they grew closer to the server room they reached areas with power still online. The corridors were now lit well enough to see without the spot lights from their gems. They noticed more and more robonoids scurrying about. They were spraying their repairing gel near constantly as they climbed over walls and equipment. They largely were ignored until they came to a large chamber filled with equipment. A large pod occupied the center of the room. Thankfully the floor was clear of the goop from the rest of the base. another door at the other side of the room.

           “The server is through there!” Peridot squeaked.

           “What’s that thing?” Steven asked.

           “It looks like a charging station for a Plug Robonoid.” Peridot guessed.

           “Oh like the one you used to reactivate the Kindergarden long ago.” He remembered. The group made their way across and when Peridot slapped the activator panel the door they entered through slammed shut.

           “Oh great.” Amethyst said letting Peridot down. “We’re stuck.”

           “Not to worry.” Peridot said proudly opening the door panel interface. “I should be able to…” She was interrupted by a loud hiss behind her. The group looked to see the pod opening to reveal a large robonoid rolling out of it. Several cone shaped legs grew out of its smooth surface and lifted it off the ground.

           “I didn’t do that.” Peridot yelped. The robonoid made a deep static filled beeping sound followed by a barely recognizable

“INTRUDERS” as two large cannons grew out of its sides. Energy began to build in its guns as it began to stomp forward.

           “Oh no….” Peridot gulped. “A Sentry Robonoid.”

           “A what?” Pearl said as she took out her spear.

           “An experimental security version of the robonoid designed to guard high value targets.” Peridot summarized. “We must have triggered some kind of alarm!”

           “Everyone.” Garnet commanded. “Get ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I suck at writing about the environments.


	5. Robots and Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The activated Sentry sets its sights on the crystal gems (and Lapis)

The Sentry Robonoid stomped forward, energy filling its large cannons. 

“INTRUDERS!” Its garbled voice wailed.  


“Everyone.” Garnet commanded. “Get ready.” The Gems all summoned their weapons as the machine fired. Spheres of pure energy flew through the air towards them. Each managed to dodge in different directions. Garnet took the opportunity to rush in low and smash her fist into the glazed surface of the robot. The Sentry was pushed backwards but was undamaged. It quickly swiveled and launched another shot at the fusion who quickly rolled avoiding the plasma ball. The shot impacted the floor and exploded sending Garnet flying forward. The sentry swung its cannon around and smacked square into Garnet’s stomach. Garnet was sent flying into the wall. She slammed into it with a grunt and landed on her knee trying to recover. Pearl shot laser bolts at the sentry but they bounced off the glossy surface. At the same time Amethyst spin-dashed towards the sentry. She slammed into it full force but the sentry didn’t move. She dropped to the ground with a thud.  


“That hurt.” She said weakly trying to get up. The sentry lifted a foot to stomp on the purple quartz. Amethyst winced and braced herself. CLANG!!! She looked up to see Steven holding back the massive foot with his shield. Lapis shot a surge of water knocking the sphere off balance allowing Steven to push it over. The machine whined as its feet simply turned over and lifted the main body up again. The cannons turned and launched another plasma ball. Lapis shielded herself with her wings and the explosion knocked her to the floor. The Sentry retrected its feet and guns and charged like a boulder towards Pearl. Pearl used her staff to pole vault over the sphere and slash at it but her blade bounces off. The machine reforms its feet and cannons and fires a volley of smaller shots towards the pale gem. Her staff spinning Pearl deflected the bolts. Peridot threw a collection of metal hammer heads from her backpack at the machine. They bounced off the surface making the sentry ring like a bell. It stopped firing at Pearl and turned towards her. The cannons began to charge.  


“Eeep.” Peridot squeaked. The Sentry fired. Steven once again intercepted with his shield. This time instead of exploding on impact the plasma ball bounced off the shield and exploded on one the walls.  


“Nothing we do hurts this thing!” Amethyst called, lassoing the sphere with her whip. She ripped the robot off its feet and sent it crashing into a bank of computers on the far side of the room.”  


“Nothing we do.” Steven said turning his shield around. “But what about something it does?”  


“What do you have in mind?” Garnet said as the Sentry began to climb out of the shattered computer parts.  


“Everyone spread out!” Steven called. “Get it to fire one of those big shots at me!” Everyone got into position except Lapis who flew next to the half-gem.  


“Are you sure about this Steven?” She asked concerned.  


“Not really.” He confessed. “But this isn’t as crazy as throwing me onto Cousin Andy’s plane.”  


“Oh…right.” Lapis remembered.  


“Look alive gems.” Garnet commanded. “Here it comes.” The sentry preformed its rolling attack once again towards Garnet. She swung her right arm and slammed the sphere with her gauntlet sending it careening towards Lapis who stuck it with one of her wings. The sentry extended its legs and cannons once again and took aim at Peridot and Amethyst. Peridot shot a hammer head straight down the barrel causing one of its cannons to explode and knocking it back. Amethyst took the opportunity to spin dash to the other side next to Steven wrapping her whip around the remaining cannon. She pulled until the cannon was aimed square at Steven’s backward shield. Unable to stop itself the Sentry fired. The plasmas ball streaked through the air and ricocheted off the shield. Steven braced himself but was knocked off his feet as the shot reversed direction and impacted the robot. After the resulting explosion dissipated the group looked and saw the sphere had been split open like a watermelon. Goo gushing from the split the Sentry collapsed on the ground its cannon whining as all of its functions stopped.  


“Alright Steven!” Amethyst whooped. “Ya plan worked like a charm!”  


“It wouldn’t have if you guys hadn’t helped.” Steven smiled. With the fight over Peridot hacked the door controls to the server room and plugged her tablet into the bank of harddrives.  


“There we go.” The technician grinned as the data downloaded. “This should prove most useful. Lapis you were amazing in that battle!”  


“I was?” She said confused.  


“Heck yeah!” Amethyst butted in. “You shoved that thing around like it owed you money!”  


“A most impressive display indeed.” Pearl praised.  


“It wasn’t anything really.” Lapis turned, not used to being praised like that. “I could get used to this.” She thought to herself. She looked up at Garnet who simply gave a thumbs up and a smile. At last Peridot’s tablet dinged.  


“Alright!” She squeaked “We can go now!”  
Once the group got home they celebrated a job well done. The sun was setting and Lapis flopped onto the couch.  


“That was intense.” She sighed. “You guys do that kind of stuff all the time?”  


“Ya get used to it.” Amethyst said as she put a layer of swiss on her 20 decker sandwich. Pumpkin had crawled out from her cushioned bed in the corner. Peridot rubbed the little gourd’s head and dumped her bag out on the table. A robonoid rolled out along with a vial of goo. It sat lifeless on the table.  


“When did you grab that?” Pearl quizzed.  


“Oh.” Peridot said. “I scooped it up on the way out; sorry I wasn’t thinking, I wanted to try and fix it up. I’ll get rid of it if you think…”  


“No, no” Pearl interrupted. “Did you want help with it?”  


“You want to help?” Peridot puzzled.  


“Ofcourse.” Pearl said. “It’ll be fun to have a project to work on together. We haven’t done anything like that since the drill.”  


“You got a deal!” Peridot smiled. “Now I better write that program to decode that message.” She set to work punching in lines of code as Pearl went to brew Steven his favorite tea. Amethyst had finished her heart attack of a sandwich and sat down next to Lapis.  


“What ya thnking Lapis?” She asked before taking a bite.  


“Today was…fun.” She decided.  


“Ya know for someone that wanted to be alone for the longest time you sure work well with our team.” Amethyst complimented. “I can see why Peri thinks so highly of you.”  


“What do you mean?” Lapis quizzed.  


“Dude.” Amethyst said super serious. “The night before we left she was ecstatic! ‘It’ll be like old times!’ she said. ‘We’ll make more Meep-Morps and marathon CPH all night!’”  
Lapis looked at the little green gem still typing away on her tablet.  


“I thought for sure she’d hate me for leaving.” She said.  


“Nah!” Amethyst dismissed. “We’re all happy your back. Just don’t go trying to steal her from me eh!” Amethyst gave Lapis a playful jab on the shouler.  


“What no?!” Lapis smiled. “I’m actually very happy for you two.”  


“Oh?” Amethyst said.  


“Didn’t really think you were into the egghead types” Lapis teased.  


“Hey now.” Amethyst responded. “She’s passionate, wants to try new things, she makes me laugh, and she’s super cute.”  


“Sounds like she’s your ‘the one’” Lapis said.  


“Garnet always said you find love in the places you don’t expect.” Amethyst shrugged.  


“Aaaand, done!” Peridot called. “Now we just sit and wait for the message to decode.”  
Suddenly Peridot’s tablet began beeping.  


“That was fast!” Steven observed.  


“Hmm.” Peridot said. “I surprise even myself sometimes.” She picked up the tablet and nearly dropped it “Oh clod. It’s not the message.”  


“What is it?” Amethyst asked.  


“A gem ship is making its way through the atmosphere and is headed this way.” She said nervously.  


“What!?” Everyone gasped at once. Garnet ordered the gems outside to meet the incoming ship and if necessary defend the city. Lapis stopped at the door for a moment.  


“Are you ok?” Steven asked.  


“Yeah…” Lapis said. “Just a bit scared.”  


“I’m scared too Lapis.” Steven confessed “This could be the start of the GemWar all over again. I’m glad you’re here though!”  


“Thanks Steven.” Lapis sighed.  


“Beach Summer Fun buds?” Steven asked.  


“Beach Summer Fun Buds.” Lapis agreed as the two joined the others on the beach as the ship became visible. It was Blue Diamond’s personal arm ship, heavily damaged and drifting towards the beach. It crashed more than landed and the gems summoned their weapons. A hatch on the end of the index finger opened and a tall figure stepped out onto the beach. There was no doubt that it was Blue Diamond herself. She removed her hood to show a sorrowful face. No one moved. The gems were tense and ready for any sudden move from the Diamond. She was looking at the rebel gems almost worried. Finally she spoke.  


“I gather you didn’t receive my message?”  
“

Your message?!” Peridot gasped.  


“You were trying to contact us?” Garnet asked. “Why?” Blue Diamond wiped a stray tear from her cheek.  


“I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof that last chapter wasn't my best ever. I hope this makes up for it. Would it kill you guys to leave some feed back?


	6. An Uneasy Alliance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue Diamond's sudden appearance leads to a possible truce?

The Crystal Gems stood silent for what seemed like an eternity. In front of them Blue Diamond and she was asking for help.  


“We should at least here her out.” Steven finally said.  


“Steven this is Blue Diamond!” Pearl cautioned. “She’s no doubt trying to trick us.”  


“It’s not a trick.” Blue Diamond protested. “I’ve come to you because I can’t trust anyone else….not even Yellow.” This caught everyone’s attention. Weapons were lowered but were still held. “I believe Rose Quartz was framed for shattering Pink.”  


“Explain.” Garnet demanded.  


“After Rose…no Steven stole my palanquin and escaped I slipped away and did some looking around in my archives.” Blue Diamond said. “The official story just didn’t add up. My Zircon at the trial was grasping at straws but she was on to something. Yellow will just brush me off like she always dose. And white…..” Blue Diamond trailed off before quickly shaking the thought loose. “You rebels are the only gems I know that can help me now.”  


“How do we know for sure this isn’t an elaborate ruse?!” Amethyst demanded.  


“I know the Cluster is dormant.” Blue revealed.  


“You knew!?” Peridot gasped. “But but how?”  


“Homeworld always monitors its projects,” Blue stated. “However your interference caused a glitch in the monitoring equipment that caused the information to reach me first. I covered it up.”  


“Why?” Garnet said confused.  


“This was Pink’s planet.” Blue said her voice filling with sadness. “I just want to know what really happened to her.” Blue Diamond turned so that no one could see but it was obvious she began to tear up.  


“All right,” Garnet relented. “We’ll hear you out. We’ll talk inside.” She put away her gauntlets and started back to the house.  


“Garnet you can’t seriously be considering…!” Pearl started, before she was interrupted.  


“Talk. Inside.” The crystal gems finally put their weapons away and cautiously followed Garnet. Blue Diamond turned to her ship.  


“Pearl.” She said. “You can come out now.”  


“Y…yes My Diamond.” Came the reply. Blue Diamond’s Pearl walked out of the ship and stuck close to her Diamond. As the pair approached the house, Lapis turned to the others.  


“I just had to come back to this didn’t I.”  


“Whatever is going on it’s bigger than any of us.” Garnet said. “If there is even a chance of Rose being innocent we have to take it.”  


“But Garnet!” She’s one of the biggest bads Homeworld has! She tried to shatter you!” Amethyst shouted.  


“I know.” Garnet said.  


“Pearl?” Amethyst said.  


“As much as I hate the Diamonds if Rose is innocent I want to know.” Pearl sighed.  
At this time Blue Diamond was at the door, towering over it. Ordinarily she’d insist that they’d continue outside but these gems were her only hope of finding out what actually happened to Pink. She couldn’t afford to make them upset, maybe it was a test. Her gem glowed as she shrunk herself down to what she thought was a more human height. She and her Pearl entered the room and the pair felt incredibly uneasy. Here they were inside the base of their enemy and completely at their mercy.  


“Oh hi Blue Pearl!” Steven said happily. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”  
Blue Pearl looked at Blue Diamond.  


“You don’t need to ask to speak Pearl.” She insisted.  


“But.”  


“No buts.” Blue Diamond insisted. Blue Pearl looked back at the smiling half gem.  


“I am…fine Steven.” She said hesitantly.  


“Alright” Garnet said. “Blue Diamond, please have a seat.” The two gems sat in front of the counter and Blue Pearl sat between Steven and Peridot on the couch. Amethyst and Pearl stood. Garnet began asking questions about Pink Diamond and Blue’s sudden change of heart.  


“Why wouldn’t you be able to investigate Pink Diamond’s shattering on your own?” She began. “You are a Diamond after all.”  


“Earth has been designated off limits to all gems due to the cluster’s alleged imminent formation” Blue Diamond explained. “Even I’m taking an enormous risk coming here. Yellow even ordered my ship fired upon when I left. I insisted that we should investigate further but she wouldn’t listen. She’d rather punish the planet as a whole.” The gems near the couch looked at Lapis. So far Blue Diamond’s story held up.  


“Say we do help you.” Garnet continued, adjusting her visor. “What happens once our investigation is finished?”  


“I’ll seek justice from those responsible for Pink’s shattering and see to it the Earth and all its life is left in peace.” Blue Diamond promised. “It’ll be too painful to see Pink’s colony destroyed. It’s all I have left of her.” Blue Diamond wiped a teary eye.  


“Are you saying you care for the Earth?” Garnet said skeptically.  


“Pink spent her last days here.” Blue Diamond said. “Her legacy is this place. I simply ask for a truce while we work toward the truth. Once we have reached a conclusion I will leave you with the planet.” The Crystal Gems had begun to relax a bit until Blue Diamond remembered something.  


“You’re the Ruby and Sapphire from the cloud arena aren’t you?” Everyone tensed up all over again but Garnet stayed stoic.  


“Yes I am.” Garnet said.  


“For what it’s worth.” Blue Diamond started. “And it’s probably not much, but I’m sorry.” Garnet said nothing. “And thank you for trusting me.”  


“Oh I don’t trust you.” Garnet warned. “My priority is the Earth and all that inhabit it. If our mission compromises that in any way our truce is off.”  


“I understand.” Blue Diamond agreed.  


We’ll start at Pink’s palanquin in a few days. Consider yourself on watch.” With that Garnet got up and headed into the temple. Pearl followed trying to ask Garnet where Blue Diamond and her Pearl would be staying. The door closed before the others could hear the answer.  


“Well I don’t see the harm in a slumber party!” Steven said.  


“Slumber Party?” Blue Diamond inquired  


“It’s a social activity where humans spend the night at each other’s dwellings.” Peridot rambled off.  


“Steven, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lapis protested.  


“Garnet said we’re on a truce, besides, you lifted the entire ocean into space once!” Steven reassured. “What could go wrong?” Lapis looked up at the Diamond.  


“I promise I won’t do anything.” She assured. “For Pink.”  


“Fine.” Lapis said. “I’ll be on top of the light house. I need time to think.” She closed the door and flew up out of sight. The house was still no one said a word for a long time. Of course Steven broke the silence.  


“Well seeing as how we’ll be seeing two pearls for a while why don’t we call you Azure?” He said to Blue Diamond’s Pearl. She looked up at her Diamond.  


“You decide.” Blue Diamond insisted. Blue Pearl looked back at Steven.  


“I suppose that would be alright.” She sighed.  


“Yay!” Steven cried pulling Azure into a one sided hug. “New Pearl Buddy!” Peridot amusingly rolled her eyes at Steven’s nature. Amethyst meanwhile hadn’t taken her eyes off the Diamond. Blue Diamond noticed the Quartz staring at her.  


“Wait a moment.” She observed. “You’re…”  


“Defective?!” Amethyst snapped. “Over cooked? A runt?”  


“No.” Blue Diamond interrupted. “A Deep Cut.”  


“A what now?” Amethyst said confused.  


“Before Yellow insisted on more standardized gems some gems displayed very rare and unique abilities.” Blue Diamond explained.  


“Ofcourse!” Peridot face palmed. “That explains it Amethyst! Deep Cuts were often smaller than your typical gem, not because they were defective, because they were literally more compact! As a result your physical strength may not be at the same level as a typical quartz but as you’ve shown your much faster than any other Amethyst and your shape shifting is without match because you have much more ‘material’ to work with.”  


“Wait so I’m a rare gem?” Amethyst said.  


“One of the rarest gems to exist.” Blue Diamond praised. “I doubt there’s another Deep Cut Amethyst in existence.”  


“For real?” Amethyst said. “Me. A Deep Cut?”  


“Well it would explain why your fusions are so large.” Lapis said as she came back inside.  


“Lapis?” Peridot asked. “How long were you listening?”  


“Since Amethyst started talking.” She confessed. “For what it’s worth Deep Cuts were a thing. I knew a few before the war.”  


“And you didn’t mention it because why?” Amethyst asked.  


“No one thought Earth could produce them.” Lapis deadpanned. “The conditions have to be exactly right.” Amethyst looked back at Blue Diamond. The Homeworld matriarch said nothing.  


“Alright, then.” Amethyst said. “You’re not as bad as I thought. We cool for now.” She and Peridot started making dinner leaving Blue Diamond ponder her current situation. Steven had taken Azure to the side and was showing her to play a human game involving slips of paper. She overheard him saying something about activating a trap card, whatever that meant. Lapis was reading what she’d come to understand was a manga book. Something about it seemed nice. No caste system, no ridged structure that was dogmatically enforced. Ever since Pink’s shattering things on Homeworld became far too militaristic for her liking. She found herself enjoying the simplicity of it. No, she had a duty to uphold. She was a Diamond and once she knew what had happened to Pink she’d have to go back and face whatever consequences she had waiting for her.  
No one wanted to leave Steven alone with Blue Diamond in the night so Peridot and Amethyst brought an air mattress out from the depths of Amethyst’s room. As the two smaller gems curled up together and Steven drifted to sleep for the night Lapis volunteered to take the first watch. Blue Diamond and her Pearl whispered between each other as to not wake everyone while Lapis occasionally peered at them over her manga which she read by candle light.  


“Are you sure this is a good idea My Diamond.” Azure asked.  


“No.” Blue Diamond replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of when my story splits from Official Canon I imagined Blue Diamond had become a much more sympathetic character. Someone who's grief made them reevaluate and change. Hopefully into something better.


	7. Beach Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gems take a day to relax after Blue Diamond's arrival. More than one gem needs a moment to adjust.

The next morning after the sun had risen Blue Diamond was startled slightly by Amethyst stirring on the air mattress. The newly dubbed Deep Cut sat up rubbing her eyes; the motion of it had also woken Peridot.  


“Morning Amethyst.” Peridot yawned.  


“Morning.” Amethyst replied. Her eyes opened and she jumped a little when she saw Blue Diamond in the living room with them. “Whoa!.....oh right.”  


“Umm…” Blue Diamond hesitated. “Good morning?” Peridot looked to where Lapis sat in her chair. She could help but laugh a little as Lapis had fallen asleep in the night herself. Her manga dangling from a loose hand and her candle burned out. She gently nudged the Ocean Gem as Amethyst began to deflate the mattress.  


“Lapis.” Peridot urged. “Lapis wake up.” Lapis leaned forward as her eyes opened.  


“I fell asleep didn’t I?” She said.  


“Yeah.” Peridot said.  


Steven!” Lapis gasped, immediately flying up towards Steven’s bed finding the half gem safe and sound. The noise had woken him up.  


“Oh good morning everyone!” He greeted. ”Lapis, are you ok you look nervous.”  


“It’s nothing.” Lapis insisted trying to put on a smile. “Good morning.” Steven climbed down to the kitchen. Garnet and Pearl had joined the others from within the temple.  


“Blue Diamond.” Garnet addressed. “We’ll take a few days to refresh and evaluate our best options for our investigation. Until then you’re welcome to stay with us in the house.”  


“Thank you.” Blue Diamond said gratefully. Lapis tensed up a little and hoped no one saw. “Excuse me, Peridot?”  


“Yes?” Peridot responded from the kitchen.  


“Would it be alright to ask you to inspect the damage to my ship?” Blue asked. Peridot looked to Garnet who gave a nod.  
Blue Diamond stood on the beach back to her full height, the sea breeze billowing her hair and robe. Azure was doodling in the sand with a stick that had washed up.  
Peridot exited the ship with an armful of components.  


“Honestly I’m surprised that you made it here in the first place.” She explained to the 23ft matriarch. “The warp core is completely destroyed; the sublight drive is cracked in several places, stabilizers are shot and most of the systems are beyond repair. You certainly aren’t going back to Homeworld in this ship.”  


“I see.” Blue sighed. “Thank you for looking at it. Um what are those in your arms?”  


“Oh I had to rip these out or else the ship would have detonated.” Peridot said nonchalantly. “However I may have some use for them if it’s alright with you.” Blue Diamond nodded and Peridot scurried into the house with her salvage. The rest of the gems were watching from the porch.  


“Looks like the sun will be out all day!” Steven observed. “Why don’t we take the day off on the beach?”  


“Oh heck yeah!” “Amethyst wooped. “It’s been a while since we could chill out!” Blue Diamond looked back at the group. They all seemed exited by the idea of lowering their temperature for some odd reason. The Lapis wasn’t as enthusiastic and was eyeing her from her position leaning against the house. As much as she wanted to start the investigation, she had waited thousands of years, what was another day or two? It was quite odd. A week ago on Homeworld she had shut herself in her chambers reliving her sorrow for the umpteenth time. Now, here she was, on Earth with the sea breeze blowing across her face and the sound of the water rolling onto the sand in her ears. She felt…at ease.  


“No wonder Pink loved this planet so…”She thought out loud.  


“It’s a remarkable place.” Garnet snuck up on her. Blue tensed up a moment, having been taken by surprise.  


“Yes.” Blue said simply.  


“You Diamonds don’t visit your colonies very often do you?” Garnet replied.  


“No.” Blue frowned. “We don’t have the luxury of free time.” Garnet gave a simple “Hmm.”  


I don’t understand it.” Blue said, looking at her Pearl sketching the nearby human settlement in the sand. “I should be hysterical, but, I’m not. Is this what Pink felt when she snuck away those thousands of years ago?”  


“Welcome to Earth.” Garnet grinned. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s beach time.” There was a rattle from somewhere behind them. The Amethyst had shoved some kind of parasol into the sand to create a shaded spot on the hot sand, and laid a few towels out on the sand. She had changed her attire to a simple black bikini and had her hair tied back in a ponytail. Peridot was close behind in a green one-piece swimsuit and flip-flops carrying plastic shovels and buckets. Lapis had hesitantly joined everyone on the beach and sat under the parasol. Steven had changed into a pair of red trucks and had a duck floatie that fit snuggly on his hips. He was dragging a cooler full of fizzy drinks to the spot.  


“Oh boy!” He smiled “We finally get to have some beach summer fun bud time!” Lapis couldn’t help but smile a little at the half gem as he went on. “We can make sand castles, swim in the ocean, and when dad gets here we’ll have a cook out!”  


“Sounds, like fun Steven.” Lapis said as Pearl joined them. She had a small stack of books and offered it to Lapis. She took one and opened it up as Pearl did the same with one of her own. As the morning became the afternoon Amethyst and Peridot were constructing an enormous sand castle. A curious Azure had wandered over and was happily helping the two crystal gems pack in sand and shape the walls and towers. Blue Diamond was surprised when she saw this. She had sat down and watched the sun glint off the ocean waves as they bobbed up and down and lost track of the time. She’d almost called for her Pearl to return but hesitated. She argued with herself, part of her wanting to maintain something familiar. She’d grown comfortable with her Pearl always being by her side catering to her whims. Part of her enjoyed seeing her Pearl…Azure play in the sand. By this point the careful construction had been demolished after the Amethyst dumped a bucketful of water on the Peridot. The green technician had declared a water war and the two gems were frantically filling their buckets and splashing each other back and forth. Blue gasped when a stray toss sent a big splash of water straight into Azure’s face! Amethyst and Peridot stopped suddenly as she stood there for a moment. Suddenly without warning Azure had reached down grabbed a bucket and flung its contents across the two trouble makers. It was Azure’s turn to gasp as she took a nervous step backward. She’d lost her composure and retaliated. No doubt she’d face consequences. Amethyst and Peridot began laughing. Azure began to calm down until the pair readied their own buckets. Azure eepd as she ducked around the mound of sand that had formerly been a castle and the three gems were engaged in a three way water war to the DEATH!....or until they got tired at least. At the end of it Azure had returned to her Diamond who was carefully drying her hair. Azure couldn’t stop herself from smiling. 

"Did you have fun?" Blue asked 

"Yes My Diamond." The giddy Pearl replied. Greg had arrived as the sun was beginning to set and Blue was surprised to see him. After Steven told her how they had infiltrated Pink’s zoo and rescued him she was more impressed than upset. She even apologized for taking him.  


“I had no idea that…dads, were so important to their…children?” She guessed. “Is that the right word?”  


“Ah don’t worry about it Your Diamondness” Greg laughed trying to be polite.  
Meanwhile Lapis couldn’t relax. She knew it would take time to get used to the Earth again but she hadn’t considered there would be a Diamond there with her. She was snapped from her thoughts by Pearl.  


“Are you ok?” She asked. “You’ve been tense all day.”  


“Not really.” Lapis admitted. “How is everyone so calm about this? THE Blue Diamond is sitting on this beach with us right now and no one seems to mind? If I were her I wouldn’t seek help from the ones that have been accused of shattering a fellow Diamond.”  


“I’m scared too.” Pearl interjected.  


“You are?”  


“Yes!” Pearl started. “I ran from my own Diamond and came to Earth to be my own gem and now Blue is here. She’s acting so differently than when I last knew of her all those years ago. I’m almost positive Garnet is putting the investigation on hold to see if this change is sincere. In anycase Steven believes it is.”  


“He sees the best in everyone doesn’t he?”  


“That he does.” Pearl smiled. “He’s just like Rose, always believing that anyone can change themselves.”  


“Thanks.” Lapis sighed. “I feel better knowing I’m not freaking out over nothing.”  


“Anytime.” Pearl smiled, passing a small device and a set of headphones to the blue gem. “Peridot wanted me to give this to you. It’s an MP3 player for listening to music.”  


“I’ll be sure to thank her.” Lapis accepted. She slipped the headphones on and started scrolling through the device. The punk rock playlists caught her attention to her surprise, particularly a band called Halestorm. Finally Greg announced that the burgers and hotdogs were ready. Everyone including Blue and Azure sat around a large table Lapis was sure couldn’t possibly fit in Greg’s van. While Lapis sat as far as possible from the two Homeworld gems the conversation stayed light. It was like the time they had that dinner with Cousin Andy. Blue had asked about her message and Peridot was colorfuly retelling the adventure as she and Amethyst stuffed their faces with Steven and Greg.  


“And then the Sentry yelled ‘INTRUDERS!!!’ really loud and we had this big fight a…” Lapis had zoned out during the conversation. She still had butterflies in her stomach but they felt…different. Despite her instincts telling her that something, anything could shatter this wonderful moment at any time she felt. Exited? She wasn’t exactly sure. She found herself adding on to Peridot’s description of the events and even called bull on some of the more exaggerated claims. 

Without realizing, Lapis had begun to enjoy herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drinking game. Take a shot every time you read good morning in the beginning. I'm at the point where I caught up with the backlog so chapters will be a little slower to come out. As always I'd love to see feedback and your thoughts on where you think the plot will go!


	8. Are some questions better left unanswered?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shocking discovery is made as the investigation begins.

The Gems were making the final preparations to travel to Pink’s palanquin in South Korea. Garnet and Pearl were talking with Blue about what she knew about the night it happened. Which she admitted, wasn’t much.  


“It was one of the few times White stepped into the public eye.” She explained. “She spearheaded the investigation quickly naming Rose Quartz as her killer. Gems across Homeworld and the colonies were satisfied. With a war going on it made sense that the leader of the enemy would be so bold.”  


“I remember that night.” Pearl said grimly. “I was at one of our base camps when Rose burst in with the news. She only said ‘Pink Diamond is no more.’ She denied doing it herself of course but she refused to discuss it further. She acted as if she was in mourning.”  


“That seems like an…odd choice of words.” Blue said.  


“Several of us thought so too.” Garnet admitted. “There were some that questioned Rose’s no shattering policy. To others it seemed perfectly reasonable. Rose wanted the planet to be left in piece, but not at the cost of lives on either side if she could help it.”  


“I must say.” Blue spoke softly. “She must have been a remarkable leader to have such devoted followers.”  


“Not followers.” Garnet corrected. “Family.” Before Blue could continue there came a loud shout from the beach!  


“Steeeven! You gotta check out that crashed alien ship on the beach!”  
Lapis took off her head phones. “Hmm? What was that?”  


“Oh no…” Peridot whined looking up from the robonoid she picked up from the tower. “It’s that Fry Man with curly hair. Make him go away he’s annoying….” Lapis moved towards the door and opened it just before the human started banging on it.  


“Oh hi Renaldo.” Steven said from his room.  


“STEVEN!” Renaldo kept shouting, making Lapis wince. “Are you aware there’s a giant space arm on the beach in front of your house can I look inside it for my blog is it here to take us to the home planet of the snake people?!”  


“Uhh..” Steven droned. “Yes, no and no.”  


“Aww…” Renaldo sighed. “What about…!”  


“Excuse me.” Lapis interrupted. “We’re about to leave for a mission soo…”  


“Oh are you a new crystal gem?” Renaldo cut Lapis off.  


“No.” Lapis said. “I’m…  


“But Steven said only Crystal Gems go on these mission thingies.” Renaldo butted in again. “Too dangerous he says.”  


“That’s right.” Lapis said.  


“So you’re not a Crystal Gem even though you go on the missions only Crystal Gems go on and insist that you are not a Crystal Gem even though going on the missions say otherwise?: Renaldo said trying to be clever.  


“Yes.” Lapis said. “No? S shut up.” She shuddered pushing the noisy human outside. She shut the door and pressed her back to it like a wild beast was on the other side.  


“Told you.” Peridot scoffed tinkering with the robonoid.  


“Is that human…always like that.” Blue asked confused.  


“Yeah.” Amethyst said. “He’s harmless enough, although, he wouldn’t leave Peri alone for like a week after the Aquamarine incident.”  


“Don’t remind me.” Peridot responded.  
With Blue Diamond’s knowledge of the proposed Earth colony the Gems were able to find a warp pad near the palanquin. The light of the pad dissipated and the group found themselves standing in a field of pink flowers. The palanquin sat decrepit and alone in the distance. As the gems began walking Blue began to think out loud.  


“It’s strange. I’ve been here dozens of times but I never saw the beauty of this place.”  


“So why did Pink travel here in the first place?” Amethyst asked.  


“She was to meet with a council of Crystal Gems that presumably wanted to negotiate peace.” Pearl and Garnet exchanged looks.  


“But, Homeworld refused any peace talks.” Pearl insisted. “Rose attempted to open negotiations several times but was rejected each time.”  


“The official story is that it was a trick to lure Pink into the open.” Blue Diamond said. “It was then that Rose Quartz snuck into the escort and…” She trailed off sobbing a little, whipping a tear from her eye. “But after what my Zircon said at the trial I’ve no clue what to believe.”  


“What did Zircon say?” Garnet asked.  


“That a well-known fugitive like Rose Quartz would have been recognized when she got close.” Blue elaborated. “That it had to be someone familiar. She even suggested that it could have been a Diamond.”  


“Whoa really?!” Amethyst gasped. “Oh man that Zircon must have had some guts!”  


“She was immediately destabilized by Yellow Diamond for her insolence.” Azure said quietly.  


“Her own Zircon as well.” Blue added.  


“Oh….” Amethyst trailed off.  


“Seems a bit extreme.” Garnet said.  


"Yellow always was strict but her behavior was quite odd.” Blue admitted. 

“She seemed like she was in a hurry to just get it over with. Almost like she was….hiding…something.”  


“No doubt suspicious circumstances surround both sides.” Steven said as the group reached the palanquin. Blue Diamond took a moment to compose herself and mentally promise Pink she’d discover the truth. The gems dispersed and looked for anything that might be out of place.  


“Quick question!” Amethyst called. “How are we supposed to find anything that’s been here for over five thousand years?”  


“I’ll try to hack into the palanquin’s system and see what I can find.” Peridot replied.  


“I doubt there would be any physical evidence after all that time.” Blue conceded and the gems all gathered round Peridot.  


“I’ve got something.” She announced. She displayed a grainy video feed recorded from the palanquins hidden cameras. In it the palanquin had stopped and Pink Diamond had stood from her seat in confusion. A voice came from outside.  


“My Diamond, we are here.”  
As Pink left the view of the inside the camera switched to an external one. In direct contrast to the official story there was no escort. The only other person in the frame was a mysterious slender gem wearing a long robe and hood clutching an ornate silver dagger. The video popped and crackled concealing the figure’s face. Blue Diamond’s eyes widened. “That weapon!”  


“You recognize it?” Garnet asked.  


“Yes.” Blue shakily replied. “It was a sign of high rank given only to the elite of Homeworld elite!” All eyes were glued to the screen with renewed urgency as the feed continued.  
“This isn’t…wait who are you?” Pink asked. “You’re not Pearl!” Pink’s voice was almost unrecognizable with the interference.  


“We are most displeased Pink.” Came the sharp reply. The robed figure’s voice was also gliched and filled with static. “Your failure to crush the rebels and insistence to halt colonization is causing setbacks we can no longer afford.”  


"Setbacks?” Pink said taking a step back. “I don’t know who you are but this planet is under my jurisdiction and I’ll run it as I see fit! Who are you and what have you done to Pearl?!”  


“She interfered much like yourself.” The figure spoke coldly. “And you will be disposed of just as that Pearl of yours.” The assailant lunged forward almost to quickly to see! Pink could barely react as the dagger plunged into her form! Her back was to the camera so the gems couldn’t see where she had been stabbed. Pink had managed to grab her attackers face as her form began to stutter and blink. Both gems screamed as a bright flash of light erupted from Pink blinding the cameras! The light dissipated as fast as it had come. Blue Diamond’s heart sank. Pink’s assailant was curled up on the ground clutching at her face where Pink had grabbed her. Next to her, where Pink had been standing, were fragments of a pink gemstone nestled in torn stripes of fabric. The attacker finally stood and scooped up the pieces and disappeared off screen. The video blanked out and droplets fell onto the screen. Everyone looked up to see Blue Diamond’s face contorted into a pained and sorrowful mess tears streaming down her face.  


“My Zircon was right.” She sobbed falling to her knees. “Someone from Homeworld ordered her shattering!”  


“I know it’s painful.” Pearl soothed. “But do you recognize the gem in the recording.”  


“No…” Blue sniffed. “Any of the high ranking court gems could have done it.”  


“Where was Eyeball?” Steven said still shocked. “She said she saw everything.”  


“More and more holes are appearing in the ‘offical’ story.” Garnet remarked.  


“Something else doesn’t add up.” Peridot quizzed. “It’s to fuzzy to be exact, but given we know Pink Diamond’s normal height in relation to the size of her gemstone it would make sense for the pieces to maintain the same volume if you put them together like a puzzle.”  


“And where are you going with this.” Lapis asked.  


“Just look at the pieces we see the assassin take.” Peridot went on. “That’s not enough to make up Pink’s full gemstone!”  


“What?!” Everyone gasped.  


“It would appear that Pink Diamond wasn’t shattered that day.” Peridot stepped to the spot where Pink had stood five thousand years before. Her hands scraped away the dirt until she dug a fair way into the earth and found what she was looking for. She pulled a strip of the long abandoned fabric from the dirt and held it up.  


“That…that’s a piece of Rose’s dress!” Pearl gasped. “But that’s impossible!” Blue Diamond took the strip of cloth from Peridot and held it in her palm. It didn’t make sense. The figure that attacked Pink was defiantly not a full figured gem like a Rose Quartz. How could she have been there and gone in the split second the camera was blind? If she was there had she finished the job or saved her and been by her side as her cracked gem slowly grew worse until nothing was left? She looked at the Crystal Gems staring back at her. Blue Diamond could only bury her face in her hands as she began to weep.  


Everything she’s been told of that night was a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy Crap! The trial WAS a sham! Ambushed by a hooded figure. But how does Rose fit into all this? Could Pink Diamond still be alive?


	9. Pep talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a talk with Blue Diamond after the discovery.

Blue Diamond was inconsolable after the discovery at the palanquin. It had taken an hour just to calm her down enough to return to the warp pad and return to Beach City. Upon arrival she sequestered herself in the ruins of her ship where it lay on the beach. One by one the gems had tried to talk to her through the door of her quarters only to be met with the same response. 

“Go away….” That had been a week ago. Not even Azure could convince Blue to come out again. She returned to the house and slumped onto the couch. 

“No luck Azure?” Lapis said concerned. 

“No…” The Pearl said. Lapis had lost nearly all her fear towards Blue and her pearl after the incident. When they first arrived Lapis was convinced it had to be some kind of elaborate ruse to get on the crystal gem’s good side and betray them at some point. But seeing Blue Diamond breakdown like that proved any doubts Lapis and the others had were unfounded. 

“Blue Diamond has gotten…emotional about Pink in the past.” Azure said, having gotten used to her nickname at this point. “But she’s never turned me away like that before…” 

“I don’t blame her.” Garnet said. “Her world is crumbling around her. She’s defiantly not the same gem that wanted to shatter me when I first fused.” 

“So just to recap,” Amethyst chimed in. “We’ve got an unknown high ranking illuminati style conspiracy, an unknown assassin gem belonging to said conspiracy, a missing Pink Diamond, and somehow Rose fits into all of this?” 

“What concerns me the most is what happened after Pink was attacked.” Pearl said. “Gem’s don’t just…erupt like that.” No one had any answers. Anything could’ve been possible. Rose could have arranged to meet Pink in private and went looking for her when she didn’t arrive. It was also just as likely that Rose lured Pink into a trap for this unknown group. That flash of light from Pink was another in a long list of questions. 

“I’m going to try talking to Blue again.” Steven said. Pearl wished him good luck as he left. The little half gem made his way across the beach into the wreck of the Arm Ship. Upon reaching the door to Blue’s room he knocked. 

“Blue?” He said. “Everyone is worried about you. Wanna come out and talk?” 

“Go away Steven…” Came the mournful response. Steven sighed slid down the door with his back until he was sitting on the floor. 

“I know it was hard seeing what happened.” The half-gem started. “Pink must have been really important to you.” Blue Diamond’s crying stopped. Steven continued. “Everything I’ve heard about the diamonds was all they wanted was to expand their colonies, but it was all wrong. It looks like Pink really cared about the Earth.” The door opened and Steven fell onto his back. Blue Diamond filled his vision as she stood over him. 

“She did.” Blue Diamond finally smiled. 

“What was she like?” Steven asked. Blue invited Steven in and began to tell him about her fallen diamond. 

“She was the youngest of us.” Blue explained. “Yellow insisted that she wasn’t ready for a colony, but she would talk endlessly of running her own planet so when it was time for me to take the Earth as another colony I decided to let Pink have it.” 

“You were going to colonize Earth?” Steven said surprised. 

“Yes.” Blue nodded. “She was so excited. We expected her to step up to the responsibility and mature but she was always sneaking away. She fell in love with the planet. She’d spend hours telling me all the things she saw, but.” Blue trailed off. “I never listened. My priority was expanding the empire. Yellow completely ignored Pink and would remind her of her position. I started the Zoo when Pink wanted to preserve the life here, a kind of compromise. I should have listened to her…maybe she’d still be here.” 

“I understand.” Steven said. “I never knew my mom…err Rose. She loved the Earth too and all the Crystal Gems looked up to her. All I know about her are the stories and memories the others had for her. She came to Earth and eventually fell in love with my dad.” 

“What…what happened to her if I can ask?” Blue said nervously. “It’s just…there’s never been a human with a gemstone before.” 

“She gave up her form when I was born.” Steven sighed. “I inherited her stone, her shield and some of her powers, but nothing else. I don’t have any of her memories and from the sound of it the gems were devastated when she wasn’t around anymore.” 

“In my time here,” Blue added. “I’ve come to realize that the Crystal Gems weren’t so different from us after all. I guess the Earth is a Homeworld to them in a way. The matriarch laughed. 

“It guess it is.” Steven said. “But we should continue looking for clues and find more evidence of this weird group on Homeworld.” 

“Pink would want me to be strong.” Blue sniffed. “I have to find out the truth of what happened that night and root out this conspiracy. Then I can bring it before Yellow and…” 

“And what?” Steven asked when Blue trailed away. 

“We’ll have to talk to white about it.” She sighed. “She was completely furious when Pink insisted on her own convictions. After that night White completely sealed herself off from the rest of Homeworld. No one talks to her unless she summons them.” 

“Well let’s focus on talking to Yellow when we have more information.” Steven smiled. “Now come on, everyone is waiting.” Blue agreed and the two made their way back to the house. Everyone stopped when Blue’s heavy footsteps sounded on the wood. Azure looked up from her sketchbook she’d been doodling in. 

“My Diamond!” She gasped getting up. Blue held up her hand. 

“Azure.” Blue spoke. “I think I’ve had enough of Homeworld’s ways for a while.” 

“What are you saying My diamond?” Azure asked unsure. 

“I want to return to Homeworld when our investigation is finished.” Blue reassured. “But until then, I think it would be for the best if we learned from…my mistakes…learn from Pink. She loved this world so much; I’d like to see it like she did.” 

“I understand My…” Azure started but was stopped by Blue Diamond. 

“You don’t have to be so formal Azure.” Blue said. 

“Yes…” Azure said, “Blue.” 

“Well this is getting awkward.” Amethyst said. “Ya know that big crawfish broil in a couple days. We could bring you too with us.” 

“Crawfish broil?” Blue asked. 

“It’s a big party in town we throw once every year!” Steven said “Everyone in town will be there along with music food and a big bonfire long into the night. It’ll be the perfect place for you to start seeing Earth!” 

“I’d like that.” Blue smiled. "I know a place that we can check afterwards for more information. For now I'd like to see a bit of this 'Beach City'. 

“It’ll be my first time attending as well!” Peridot announced. “Amethyst has promised it’ll be a large explosion!” 

“I don’t think that’s what she meant by ‘a blast’ Peridot.” Lapis rolled her eyes. “I suppose I’ll tag along too.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” Pearl chimed. 

“Have a nice night everyone.” Garnet said. She and Pearl entered the temple for the night. 

“I have an idea!” Steven suggested. “Why don’t we all watch a movie every night so Blue and Azure can see more of Earth culture!” 

“I’m game!” Amethyst seconded. And so it was decided, Steven, Lapis, Amethyst, Peridot, Blue and Azure each got to pick a movie to watch and the group would watch one every night. Blue got to pick first. 

“This one looks interesting.” She said holding up a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

“Oh man that one’s a classic!” Amethyst called. “I’ve seen that one like...I don’t even know how many times!!!” 

“What’s an Indiana and why is this ‘Jones’ named after it?” Peridot asked. The movie was put in and as the guide in the movie pulled out his gun, the man in the fedora snapped a whip at him. After the guide ran away clutching his injured hand the man with the whip stepped into the light. Steven took a peak at the other's faces. Their eyes were wide with wonder and amazement. 

“Ok.” Lapis spoke. “That was pretty cool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little light hearted this chapter before more plot. I always loved how the show could balance feel good moments with feels shattering reveals.


	10. Realizations and Admissions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the beach party arrives.

It was morning when Blue opened her eyes.  


“Morning Blue!” Steven chimed.  


“Huh?” She puzzled turning to face the half human. “What happened?”  


“You feel asleep after you re-watched the movie for the 5th or 6th time.” Peridot said from the counter.  


“I don’t recall falling asleep.” Blue said worried. “I’m not going to do that again will I?”  


“Nah.” Amethyst quipped joining her GF for breakfast. “You were crazy tired. How do you feel?”  
Blue considered. She hadn’t slept before let alone on accident. She felt…lighter? That pit of worry in her gem seemed just little bit smaller. Had her gem gotten a bit more lustrous too? It was almost like she had been,,,,  


“Refreshed.” She decided.  


“That’s great!” Amethyst smiled. “Took me weeks to convince the angry slice of pie here to try it.”  


“It seemed incredibly illogical at the time.” Peridot defended.  


“Um…” Blue said looking around. “Where is Azure?”  


“Lapis took her to see the garden.” Steven said. “Garnet and Pearl went to get groceries for the Crawfish Broil tonight.”  


“Tonight?” Blue asked. “But didn’t you say that was in a few days?”  


“He did.” Amethyst said. “You were out cold for two days.”  


“I what!?” Blue exclaimed horrified.  


“We tried to wake you several times.” Peridot said. “But you wouldn’t budge.”  


“I thought it would be best to let you rest.” Steven said. “You looked like you needed it.”  


“I suppose I did.” Blue said. “Thank you.” Blue joined the others at the counter and she watched as Peridot continued tinkering with her robonoid. After a long silence she spoke up again.  


“Are you sure those humans at the end of the movie were ok after?”  


“Yes Blue.” Steven said. “Movies are just people making a pretend story for entertainment. They replaced the actors with special dummies that looked like them for that part.”  


“Really?” Blue gasped. “They can do that?”  


“Oh totally!” Amethyst chimed in. “I watched the behind the scenes stuff and they did a section on that part! They but a special gelatin on a stone skull and melted it with heaters and sped up the footage.”  


“Oh that makes me feel better.” Blue sighed. “It looked so convincing!” The group began talking about the movie at length when Lapis returned with Azure.  


“Oh! My…Blue.” Azure corrected. “You’ve awakened.”  


“They’ve begun to set up for the Broil.” Lapis said.  


“Let’s check it out!” Steven cried.  


“I’ll catch up.” Peridot said. “Little Gooey here needs some extra attention.” Steven nodded. Amethyst was in the middle of a one gem feast so Steven knew he’d never separate her from a meal. She waved at them with her hand in a manner that Steven guessed was “what she said.”  


“Looks like we’ve got a Blue Squad then!” Steven chuckled. Lapis grinned a little.  


“Oh!” Azure pieced together. “Because we’re all the same hue!” After Blue had shrnk down to a ‘human size’ Steven led the Blue Gem Group towards the beach near the pier.  


“And that’s funland!” Steven finished his tour of the sights. “Mr.Smiley runs it. Alone.” As Steven was talking Onion busted open the ticket dispenser and ran off with piles of tickets. Mr.Smiley himself gave chase!  


“Is he…ok?” Blue asked.  


“On some days.” Steven shrugged. They made their way to the beach proper. Volunteers were setting up the food tents and digging fire pits in the sand. Several of the humans smiled and greeted Steven as they approached. Blue remembered Steven once referring to them as “The Cool Kids”.  


“Oh hey Steven it’s been a while!” Jenny greeted.  


“These friends of yours?” Buck asked.  


“Hey guys.” Steven waved. “Yeah, you guys know Lapis, and this is Blue Diamond and Azure.”  


“Wait a second.” Jenny interrupted. “As in, one of the big bad space tyrants out to get us? You seem shorter than Steven described.” Blue felt a rush of embarrassment  


“Yes but not exactly.” Steven countered. “She came to Earth to investigate a crime that took place over five thousand years ago!”  


“Boy that’s pretty deep.” Buck said in his absent but sincere way. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”  


“Thank you.” Blue said simply unfamiliar with the young human’s strange mannerisms.  


“Lapis Lazuli?” Sour Cream remembered. “Oh yeah! You stretched the ocean into space that one time!”  


“I…” Lapis froze. “ I was just trying to get back to what I thought was home…”  


“No worries.” Sour Cream said. “Sorry to bring it up. It’s just the water’s been bubbling up real weird all morning.”  


“Weird how?” Steven asked.  


“It’s like something really big is moving around out there.” Sour Cream shrugged. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”  
Steven looked out into the sea. There was a large shadowy mass slowly lurking around. One of the fishing boats was traveling towards the docks nearby when there was a violent crack! The ship was pushed from underneath out of the water by an enormous crab! The fishing boat had cracked the top section of its shell bright blue shell and enraged the creature. As it turned a bright silvery gemstone shone above a set of sharp mandibles!  


“A corrupted Gem!” Steven called turning to the cool kids “Guys clear the beach. Lapis we have to bubble it!” 

Lapis nodded and the two ran forward to battle the monster who had scuttled onto the beach. Blue was horrified as she put it together in her mind. She and the other Diamonds were angry. They combined their power and covered the Earth in a vale of light that was supposed to erase every gem on the planet. But without Pink….had the effect been altered? Steven and Lapis were holding their own against the beast. Despite the gaping wound in the gem’s shell the pair did their best not to attack the crack in the shell. Were they trying to tire it out? Weakening it until it’s form dissipated? What would they do with its bubbled core? Lapis had landed ontop of the shell and was slamming it down again and again with giant fists of liquid. Steven tried to keep it from moving any closer to the beach than it had. Suddenly it’s beady eyes swiveled and saw Blue standing there in disbelief. With a mighty swing it knocked Steven aside and shook Lapis loose. It charged at Blue with incredible speed. Blue panicked and surged to her normal twenty three foot height without realizing. The beast didn’t hesitate. A split second later Blue flung a sphere of blue white energy at the creature! The sphere burst on impact leaving the gemstone behind. Steven scooped it up as Blue fell to her knees on the sand. The rest of the crystal gems had arrived on the scene at this point and Steven explained what happened.  


“At least everyone is safe and sound.” Pearl praised.  


“Is this what you’ve been doing since the war?” Blue asked still shaken. Garnet confirmed and Blue began to confess what she and the other Diamonds had done.  


“Not a day goes by where I don’t regret it…” She sighed. “Thousands of gems gone or so I thought.”  


“We keep them in bubbles so we can find a way to cure them.” Steven said.  


“You couldn’t have known this would happen to them.” Garnet added.  


“I suppose our arrangement is off then.” Blue sighed.  


“Make no mistake this isn’t good.” Garnet said. “But you did this over five thousand years ago. You seem to have changed quite a lot.”  


“Once I’m back on homeworld I’ll look into corruption and see what can be done.” Blue promised. “No more gems should suffer.”  


“Good news is the party is still on.” Garnet said as Steven handed her the bubble. “We should enjoy ourselves. Blue put on a brave face for the rest of the day. She shrunk back down and helped the others and the town’s folk set up. After sun set everyone was sitting around a few campfires as Sour Cream played music from his equipment. Food and drink were shared by those humans and gems that partook. The fireworks were about to start. Greg had just finished telling Blue the story of how he met Rose. Blue couldn’t help but laugh at the “You’re everything that I want!” line. It was so…direct yet sincere. Blue looked toward an empty part of the beach where Lapis was sitting alone. She excused herself from the group and sat down next to her after assuming her full height.  


“Are you ok?”  


“What brings you over?” Lapis asked without looking.  


“I needed to stretch.” Blue said. It wasn’t a lie. “Staying so compact for so long makes me feel stiff. Why are you here?”  


“I don’t know.” Lapis sighed. “The Sour Boy brought up part of my past I’m not proud of. I stole the ocean, broke Greg’s leg, trapped and abused another gem in a fusion I forced to go on and it’s all over and done with and I’m glad for that but…it’s hard to be ok with sometimes. It didn’t feel right to be somewhere so happy right now.”  


“I understand.” Blue sighed. “I’ve destroyed countless life forms on my colonies, ordered the shattering of countless gems and helped corrupt so many more.”  


“Yeah…” Lapis sighed.  


“But we both have a second chance to be better than that.” Blue said. “Earth has a habit of making one take a hard look at yourself.”  


“You’re right.” Lapis smirked. “Ever since I got back I’ve lived with the crystal gems, gone on missions, played with Steven, and now I’m completely obsessed with punk rock music.”  
Blue gave a chuckle. She would often hear Lapis quietly singing along to the lyrics as she lounged around the house.  


“And as much as I didn’t want to admit it.” Lapis continued. “At some point between getting out of that mirror and leaving with the barn…”  


“Yes?” Blue urged.  


“I became a Crystal Gem.” Lapis finally admitted. She felt a huge weight lift off of her as she said it.  


“I knew it!” Steven shouted behind them! Lapis and Blue whipped around just in time for Steven to smack into Lapis with a flying hug! “Welcome to the Crystal Gems officially Lapis!”  


“Thanks Steven.” Lapis sighed. With that the three rejoined the others at their bonfire with the good news. As the fireworks started Peridot nudged Lapis.  


“How’s it feel being a Crystal Gem?” She asked.  


“It feels….” Lapis considered. “Feels right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. College work takes priority. Plot will pick up next chapter and it'll involve a certain clod.
> 
> Wanted to introduce Blue to corruption and finally settle Lapis' deal with the Gems
> 
> I also changed the title to better reflect the story.


	11. New Resolve.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue continues the investigation and runs into....difficulties. Her Pearl Azure has some time to think about everything that has happened.

“I smashed the console on the moon.” Garnet said flatly.  


“Oh…” Blue sighed. “Main control room in the Prime Kindergarden?”  


“Cave in.” Peridot cut in. Blue face palmed.  


“Lunar Sea Spire?” She tried.  


“It’s collapsed in the sea at the moment but it should assemble itself in a few weeks.” Pearl suggested.  


“We can’t wait that long.” Blue insisted. “I can raise it when we get there.”  


“Whoa!” Steven called from the living room. “You can do that!?”  


“She is a Dianond after all.” Azure said smugly as she doodled in her sketchpad.  
Blue raised her eyebrow at Azure’s comment she was usually so quiet and withdrawn. Since they came to Earth she’d become quite outspoken. She was constantly showing everyone her doodles and strangely it made Blue happy to see. Azure’s face would light up when the others saw her depictions of the things she saw. From everyone in the house to the missions the others told her about.  


“In any case,” Blue turned back to Garnet. “Once the spire is reassembled I can use the console in the archive room to contact Yellow on Homeworld and have her send the records of all the Gems on Earth that were awarded with the Silver Daggers.”  


“My Diamond…I uh…I mean Blue.” Azure said. “Are you sure Yellow Diamond will comply? She was furious at the trial. She scares me…”  


“Yeah about that,” Lapis chimed in “Aren’t you two fugitives now?”  


“Well…” Blue considered. “I suppose…” Azure gasped.  


“Does that mean we have to be Crystal Gems?!” She gasped horrified. She was enjoying life on earth to her surprise but wasn’t ready to leave everything she’d known, even if she was a servant.  


“What? No!” Blue reassured. She remembered who she was in the company of. “Excuse me. Azure, I promise we will return home and I’ll take all the blame. It was my decision to come here not yours.” Azure nodded hesitantly and went back to doodling with noticeably less enthusiasm.  


“Now then.” Garnet said. “This will be a simple mission so, Pearl Steven and I will accompany Blue to the Spire. The rest of you, you deserve a break.” The warp pad flared to life and the group vanished into the warp stream leaving Amethyst Peridot and Lapis alone with Azure.  


“So.” Lapis said. “What’s on your mind Azure?”  


“I’m….” Azure paused. “I’m confused…”  


“About what?” Lapis insisted.  


“I’m a Pearl.” Azure said. “It’s my place to serve…but My Diamond is letting me be more….independent. I’m thinking about myself more and more over her. I don’t understand it.”  


“I think I understand.” Lapis said sitting next to Azure. “You aren’t sure if what your feeling is ok considering all you know is Homeworld.” Azure nodded.  


“Pearl went through the same thing when she came to Earth.” Amethyst added. “She told me once it took her like 50 years for her to stop calling Rose ‘my quartz’. Azure giggled at this.  


“Think of it this way.” Peridot suggested. “Everything Blue thought about Homeworld has been put into question. Maybe she needs a friend more than a servant right now.”  


“A friend?” Azure puzzled. “I suppose I could try…”  


“So other than that,” Amethyst smiled. “How is the Earth?”  


“I could get used to it.” Azure admitted.

Meanwhile, the others had appeared at the base of the Sea Spire. Blue wasted no time in raising her hands out before the ocean. She reached out to the fallen structure with her powers causing her long hair to stand on end as she concentrated. The ocean bubbled and surged as the spire raised itself, compelled by the sheer force of will radiated by the diamond before it. Pearl and Garnet were reminded of just how powerful Blue was.  


“Whoa!” Steven said amazed. “That’s so cool! How’d you do that?” Blue finally relaxed as the spire finished constructing itself.  


“The spire was built using technology similar to my ship.” She explained catching her breath. “I can interact with it at a distance as if summoning it. Shall we continue?” The team nodded and followed into the spire. It was strange for Blue to see the spire in ruins. The little shelled creatures that Steven called Crystal Shrimp were rather cute however.  


“Um, Blue?” Pearl asked as they walked. “Can I ask you something privately?” She and Blue moved to the back of the group, Garnet took Steven ahead a little farther having foreseen the start of the conversation.  


“Is something wrong?” Blue asked. Pearl looked up at the much taller gem.  


“What do you plan to do with Azure?” Pearl asked shakily.  


“Pardon?” Blue said.  


“If she doesn’t want to go back with you?” Pearl looked away.  


“You mean if she wants to be independent like you?” Blue surmised. “I suppose I’d have to respect her choice.”  
“Really?” Pearl looked back surprised.  


“Didn’t suspect a direct answer?” Blue chuckled.  


“It’s just Homeworld treats us…Pearls like…”  


“Slaves?” Blue finished. Pearl nodded. Blue continued. “For a long time even I did. Pearls were made specifically to serve and follow orders. Replaceable and expendable, some even see how close they could get to make theirs retreat into their stones…”  


“That’s horrible!” Pearl cried. She was getting angry now. Ofcourse a Diamond wouldn’t have had sympathy for a Pearl. She was about to start yelling at Blue against her better judgement.  


“And then something happened.” Blue said.  


“What was that?” Pearl asked confused.  


“You escaped.” Blue said. “Suddenly everyone with a Pearl was frightened of their Pearls. Many of them started letting them have more freedom…even if it was out of fear for themselves. You made life for the average Pearl on homeworld a little more bearable.”  


“I did?” Pearl said calming down a bit.  


“Yes.” Blue said. “Azure started doodling for example. If she decides to stay here than that just means I’ll have to comeback now and again for a visit.”  


“You make it sound like she’s more of a friend than a servant.” Pearl sighed.  


“Oh she’s been wonderful.” Blue lit up. “She’s gotten so excitable lately. She’s quite the little artist isn’t she, and….I guess Azure is someone I can call, friend. She looks up to you.”  


“S she does?” Pearl stammered in surprise.  


“Ofcourse she does.” Blue said. “All the Pearls back home whisper about you, The Renegade Pearl!” Pearl couldn’t help but laugh.  


“The Renegade?” She chuckled. “I kind of like that.”  


“Now I believe we have a mission to complete.” Blue smiled.

“Wait, they call her The Renegade!!!” Amethyst spat back at the house. “That’s priceless!”  


“And suddenly everyone who had a Pearl began to be a bit more lenient towards us.” Azure stated. “Blue started to let me doodle during my spare time. Yellow’s Pearl would often sneak photos of herself in front of Yellow Diamond yelling at her subordinates.”  


“That Pearl was always a prideful one.” Peridot groaned. “She once sent me the same photo of Yellow Clod chewing out my superior officer after a uh…slight malfunction on the mainframe every day for an Earth month.”  


“I gotta ask Azure.” Amethyst said. “Are you still interested in serving Blue?”  


“Well…yes.” Azure said. “Don’t mistake, I love being allowed to do what I want here on Earth, but I’m not like your…Pearl. Some Pearls on Homeworld were always treated like more of a partner than a servant. Blue would mostly use me for…moral support, a shoulder to cry on whenever she thought about Pink.”  


“I think I get it.” Lapis nodded.  


“Yeah.” Amethyst said. “Pearl was treated like trash from what she told me.”  


“Y you’re not mad at me?” Azure said confused. “For wishing to continue serving Blue?”  


“You said it yourself.” Peridot said. “You two are more partner than Gem and their Pearl.”  


“Pearl wanted to be independent.” Amethyst said. “But that’s what she wanted. You’re your own gem Azure. Blue’s actually been pretty cool so far.”  


“I see…” Azure wondered.  


“I used to be held captive on Earth.” Lapis said. “Steven once told me that things could be different. That if I stayed it would be my own choice.”  


“So…” Azure pieced together. “I’m free to choose what I want to do…even if it’s to remain by the side of my Diamond.”  


“That’s right.” Lapis nodded. Azure smiled at this.  


“Free.” She sighed. “No wonder you crystal gems fight so hard for this planet.”

“I must admit.” Blue said as the group approached the control room door. “Rose Quartz may have been right to question the status quo. No one could see how dogmatic things were becoming. After a few thousand years it was seen as ‘the way things were’.” Garnet and Pearl nodded.  


“I remember before I was assigned to… my diamond.” Pearl sighed. “I served under an Iolite in one of the Great Libraries before Homeworld became more…militaristic.”  


“Wait…” Blue said as she opened the door and entered the chamber. “I remember visiting one of them, were you the one that toppled a stack of data pads when I arrived.”  


“Ummm.” Pearl looked away with a teal blush on her cheeks. “Maybe….”  
Inside the chamber was a console that was very similar to the one Garnet crushed on the moon. Blue sat in the throne and activated it. Garnet Steven and Pearl stood off to the side so they wouldn’t be spotted when whoever was on the other end picked up. Eventually someone did, the nasally voice of Yellow Diamond’s Pearl cut through the silence.  


“This is the Direct Diamond Communi….Oh my Stars!” She gasped. Before she could say anything a massive hand entered the frame and shifted it up and away before Yellow Diamond herself.  


“Blue.” She said flatly. “Come to your senses I hope?”  


“Yellow listen.” Blue said. “I’ve found new evidence of…”  


“Blue we’ve been over this.” Yellow interrupted. “Rose Quartz is guilty without question. It’s time you came home and forgotten about this childish fool’s errand.”  


“You don’t understand!” Blue said getting frustrated. “My Zircon was right! Someone from Homeworld was behind it! We…er I found a recording that shows an assailant wielding a Silver Dagger! It’s possible there’s a group operating on Homeworld that the Authority is unaware of. I need you to send the records of….”  


“Enough!” Yellow shouted. “How ridiculous! No one awarded with that honor would even think of committing such a crime! Even if it was a Silver Dagger Rose could have easily made a fake and no one reported theirs missing. Honestly Blue, a secret organization here on Homeworld no one knows about? This little escapade has gone on for long enough.” By this point Blue once again had tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn’t distraught like before. This time she was angry.  


“No!!!” She bellowed slamming her fists on the console. “Everything about that night has been cast into doubt and no one else cares enough to investigate! Is it just easier to just believe a lie or do you just not care?!”  


“Blue!” Yellow gasped. “I mourned for Pink’s loss same as you did!”  
“Doesn’t it bother you?” Blue demanded. “It’s possible that we we’re lied to! All of us, every single Gem! What if White was wrong!?”  
“You dare to question even her now?!” Yellow shouted. “You’re skating a very thin line Blue! Even leaving Homeworld in the first place is being seen as borderline treason!”  


“I don’t care Yellow!” Blue yelled right back. “Pink deserves better!”  
The two diamonds continued shouting back and forth, unbeknownst to all, one of yellow’s subordinates quietly opened her own channel.  


“Blue is on Earth.” She whispered. “She’s beginning to suspect our organization.”  


“What does she know?” Came a disguised reply.  


“Only what happened at the Palanquin the night of the attempt.” Yellow’s subordinate said. “She’s asking Yellow for information. What should we do?”  


“I assume Yellow is being less than cooperative from the sounds of that shouting.” The voice said. “Let Blue throw her fit like a spoiled brat. We’ll leave her to her whims on Earth for a while longer. Eventually Yellow will have had enough and go to retrieve her, I’ll have someone travel with her to…persuade Blue to come back and forget that unfortunate incident.”  


“Understood.” The subordinate said. The line closed  


“That’s enough Blue!” Called an exhausted Yellow Diamond. “You know I cared for Pink! What happened to her was a tragedy but nothing can be done about it! You’re the only one that hasn’t moved on!”  


“I’m not going to back down Yellow!” Blue retorted. “Something is wrong and you know it!”  


“This conversation is over.” Yellow said pinching her nose in frustration. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your time on Earth because your little visits are done. I’ll come to pick you up when I find the time. Once you’re back here where you belong we can all forget this farce.” The line was cut before Blue could respond. Her fists slammed down onto the console once more as she glared at the blank screen.  
Steven Garnet and Pearl were frozen in shock. Blue could still be vicious when she chose to be.  


“Are you ok?” Steven asked as Blue moved towards the door.  


“No.” She sighed. “Let’s just go home.”  


“Did she mean that like…” Pearl whispered. Garnet reposned with an ‘I don’t know” hum and the group returned to the warp pad without another word.  
The pad at the house received them a moment later. Azure Amethyst Peridot and Lapis were sitting on the floor playing Uno.  


“Is something wrong?” Azure said, seeing her diamond upset,”  


“Yellow refused to help.” Steven said sadly.  


“She brushed me aside like she always does.” Blue sighed still angry a little. “She was always abrasive but now she’s even worse.” Azure got up and went to hug Blue.  


“It’s ok my di…Blue.” She corrected. “Do you need a friend right now?”  


“I think I do.” Blue sighed returning the embrace. “It’s a good thing I’ve brought one with me then isn’t it?”  


“Yes, it is Blue.” Azure sighed. The evening began to unwind and everyone went to sleep. As Blue began to nod off she couldn’t stop thinking about Pink. No one was awake to see her dream project from her Gem showing a giddy Pink Diamond telling her all about her brand new colony and all the life that lived on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 300 hits?! How'd that happen? 
> 
> It would seem Blue is onto something after all! A secret organization really has wormed its way into the highest places in Homeworld's ruling power!


	12. The Calm Before the Storm.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue finds new determination to continue her investigation. She's beginning to be of notice to the unseen enemy back home.

A loud crashing sound shook the house and Blue shot awake! She was startled enough to shoot up in height a foot or two and bumped her head on one of the beams supporting the roof. She winced rubbing the spot as she shrunk back down.  


“What was that?” She asked worried.  


“It’s thunder.” Lapis said from her spot lying on the couch. “It happens when it rains. You alright?”  


“Yes I’m fine just…surprised.” She said. She looked out the windows to the unrelenting downpour. The sound it made on the roof was oddly calming.  


“I thought it was the Cluster emerging when I first heard it.” Peridot admitted. She and Pearl were tinkering with the Robonoid again. It was almost ready for a test run.  


“Wait…” Pearl asked. “Is this right?” The more intricate components were confusing for her.  


“Hmm” Peridot looked over. “This one goes here, that one goes there.”  


“Right.” Pearl corrected. “Ready?” Pridot gave a nod and activated the robonoid.  


“Gooey, test one begin.”  
Gooey shakily stood on its four cylindrical legs and took a few shaky steps before falling over and deactivating.  


“Hmm.” Perdot sighed. “Looks like we missed something.”  
Garnet took Blue off to the side.  


“Are you ok?” She asked.  


“You refer to Yellow?” Blue figured. “We’ll just have to figure out a way to get those records another way.”  


“It’s troubling.” Garnet sighed. “It would seem as if Yellow is also unaware of this…shadow organization.”  


“It’s entirely possible that one or more of her underlings is a spy for them.” Blue said. “It could possibly go as high as white’s court aswell.”  


“It wouldn't be above suspicion." Garnet said “You did say that White closed herself off from the rest of Homeworld.”  


“She has an entire area set aside for use by herself and her court. For the most part anyone can come and go as they see fit but no one white herself without a summon.” Blue confirmed. “It would be the perfect place to hide.”  


“If that’s true then they won’t like you poking around.” Garnet guessed. “If this shadow organization knows of your investigation they’ll no doubt come for you as well.”  


“I understand.” Blue said grimly. “I’ll stop at nothing to find the truth.”  


“You have the resolve.” Garnet warned. “But you may not like what you find.”  


“Do you see a way that we can pick up our trail?” Blue asked.  
The future on this matter is…clouded.” Garnet said. “From this point onward I’ve no guarantee that we’ll find our answer. Anyone deep in Homeworld’s Authority could have ordered Pink Diamond’s shattering.”  


“In any case we have to continue.” Blue said. “If Yellow won’t help then I’ll have to return to Homeworld and retrieve the data myself.”  


“And how do you propose we do that?” Peridot butted in. “Your ship isn’t going anywhere without substantial repairs.”  


“Yes of course.” Blue said. “I believe Pink’s own arm ship may still be somewhere on this planet.”  


“I did see some pink gem tech in the desert where we found Lion.” Steven said. Blue was familiar with the large pink cat. He kept to himself mostly near the base of the lighthouse. He never really did anything to her but he did make her a little nervous. He’d just stare at her for several minutes and fall asleep again.  


“That area has been under a perpetual sandstorm lately.” Pearl said. “We suspect some kind of gem tech or corrupted gem.”  


“Wait so we have to collect more stuff from defunct gem facilities?” Perodot groaned. “It’s like those crappy fetch quests in that falling off game.”  


“Fallout.’ Lapis lazily corrected. She, Peridot and Amethyst had recently started playing the third one here and there.  


“Unfortunately.” Blue said. “With any luck Pink’s ship is buried in this desert and the salvage we need, will be in a useable condition.”  


“Well….the hand section of your ship is in decent shape.” Peridot considered. “If we could detach the wrist it is possible that it could be made space worthy again.”  


“Um…Blue.” Azure spoke up. “What will happen once we arrive?”  


“What do you mean?” Blue asked.  


“You said that Yellow intends to keep you from returning here.” Azure said. “What if she won’t let you leave?”  


“I stood up to her before and I can do it again.” Blue scoffed tying to be confident.  


“And if she insists?” Azure pressured. “Will you become a fugitive?”  


“While I hope it doesn’t come to it.” Blue sighed. “I can’t sit aside anymore. It’s not just for Pink anymore, if this secret organization really is operating within the Authority then I have to find how many there are and who they are.”  


“I understand.” Azure said.  


“Azure.” If you no longer feel…comfortable following me any longer, when we get back I can transfer you to…”  


“NO!” Azure burst out. “No…Blue. I want to stay by your side no matter what! I’ve been told that to be free means making your own choices and….I…I…I choose to stay!”  


“Oh Azure!” Blue sobbed with joy tears welling up a bit. She scooped her lifelong friend into a tight embrace. The crystal gems smiled at the pair of Homeworlders. Pearl was somewhat confused by Azure’s commitment to her Diamond. She had risked everything to escape her’s. But here was a fellow Pearl risking the same to remain with her’s. In a way she was proud of Azure.  


“So.” Lapis said. “How exactly do we get inside this desert if it’s covered by a sandstorm?”  


“Oh Peridot!” Amethyst chimed in. “Peridot didn’t you upgrade those sensor thingies with the parts of Blue’s ship?”  


“Well…yes.” Peridot blushed. “I haven’t tested them yet though…I suppose this is as good a time as any.” She pulled out her tablet and brought up the interface she made to control the scanners. She punched in the location provided by Steven and after a few minutes passed the reading came back.  


“It would appear that while the storm is really intense.” Peridot elaborated. “There appears to be a large void inside the initial wall of sand. Meaning, that something in area is indeed controlling it.”  


“That’s good then.” Steven said. “Pink’s ship will be ok.”  


“I can shield us with my powers.” Lapis said. “Water bubble.”  


“Then it’s settled.” Garnet said. “We’ll investigate and gather what we need to fix Blue’s ship.”  


“Fantastic!” Blue chimed happily. “When should we leave?”  


“We should at least investigate immediately.” Garnet said. With that the large group warped away to the desert.  
The site that awaited them was a massive one. Stretching tall and wide was a shifting and churning wall of sand blowing across the air. Everyone bunched around Lapis as she wrapped the group in a protective cocoon of water. They carefully trudged through the massive wall of churning sand. Lapis struggled to maintain the bubble against the howling wind and the razor sharp sand. At last the bubble slipped though the storm into a calm and quiet landscape. The sun shone brightly through the sandy ceiling in an unnatural way as if there wasn’t a violent vortex swirling surrounding them.  


“Look!’ Steven pointed. He drew everyone’s attention to a pyramid shaped temple in the distance. A tornado of sand rose from its peak into the sky above.  


“That must be the source of the storm.” Blue guessed. As the group made their way towards Rose’s hiding spot she took the opportunity to rise to her full size and stretch a bit.  


“I know right!” Amethyst observed. “It’s tough to hold a shape for so long.”  


“Yes.” Blue groaned. “I get rather stiff staying so compressed.”  


“We gotta do something about that.” Amethyst observed.  


“Why not build a few new rooms attached to the house?” Lapis chimed in.  


“I’d agree with that!” Peridot said. “As nice as it is to share a room with Amethyst it would be nice to have a room of my own.”  


“Hey yeah!” Amethyst said snatching Peridot’s hand. “That way I can spend a few nights in your room too.” Peridot blushed deeply.  


“We’ll talk about it when we get back.” Garnet laughed. “We’re here.” Two large pink cylinders rising out of the sand before bending back down into the sand.  


“It is her ship!” Blue cried excitedly! “We’re one step closer now!”  


“Isn’t it strange that the storm seems to just be making a barrier?” Azure asked.  


“Probably some kind of security system that short circuited and kicked back online.” Peridot guessed. “It seems to be stable enough. So I wouldn’t worry about it.”  


“Alright.” Garnet said. “Let’s see what we can take back with us.”  
Blue opened up a hatch on one of the massive fingers and the group boarded the vessel and began searching. 

Meanwhile all the way on Homeworld a technician noticed a sensor on her console activate. Yellow looked over.  


“What is it?” She asked.  


“N nothing my Diamond.” The Technician stuttered. “Robonoid maintenance of the lower levels of facet XL8-473 is complete.” Yellow gave a grunt and turned her attention away. The Technician quietly opened a com channel.  


“What is it.” Came a voice.  


“Blue Diamond has boarded the remains of Pink Diamond’s ship.” The technician said.  


“Was the computer on board wiped clean?”  


“Yes.” The technician replied. “She will not find any information there. The ship has been rendered inoperable as well. Rest assured with the damage we inflicted on her own ship she’s stranded on Earth until we are ready for her.”  


“Good…” Came the reply. “Although she may not be after her ship for information.”  


“What do you suggest?”  


“I think it’s time I pay our dear lost Blue a visit.” The voice said. “We can’t risk her coming home too soon. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”  


“Understood Ma’am. You’re welcome.” The technician closed the channel and looked up at Yellow Diamond. She was none the wiser of the conversation. The technician sighed. She quietly wiped the log of the conversation. 

It wasn’t just Blue Diamond that couldn’t be allowed to discover what was really going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey 400 hits on this thing. I must be doing something right!
> 
> Next Chapter all this build up will finally pay off it seems the leader of this Shadow Organization is making her move.


	13. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mastermind of Pink's attempted shattering is revealed. Rose's secret is uncovered and Blue makes a choice that will change her destiny.

Blue Diamond was practically bubbling with energy. Over the last few days she Azure, and the Crystal gems went back and forth from Pink’s lost arm ship tallying parts off a list Peridot provided. None of the internal systems were working and the computers were scrambled, but it must be what happens when a ship is left in the desert for five thousand years. Slowly but surely her own ship took on more and more pink components. The hand was detached and sat on the beach curled into a fist, its sleek blue surface dotted with pink panels.  


“When do you think it’ll be ready?” Blue would always ask like an exited kid.  
“Within a few weeks.” Peridot would reply, finding amusement in the Diamond’s enthusiasm. Of course progress would be slow, she was working with a small team after all. It was funny. Blue found herself picking up more and more habits from Steven and the other humans. She often accompanied Steven to the little shop on the edge of town with the large round pastry on top. Several of the humans would wish her a “good morning” and she would return the favor in turn.  
She got along surprisingly well with everyone. It surprised her how much she enjoyed talking with the townspeople. The young human with the curly hair could be a little exhausting with his near constant questioning and conspiracy theories about rock people leaving circles in their corn fields whatever those were.  
“Should I find the term Rock People offensive?” She thought to herself. Another thing she found surprising but welcoming was the fact that none of the humans seemed to be bothered by the fact she was twenty three feet tall. She liked to remain at a human size whenever she could but it was comforting to know she could relax and be at full height if she needed to. Azure liked to draw everything that took her interest. Her sketchbook was filling up with her doodles.  
One afternoon Blue and Azure were leaving the house with Amethyst. Azure held her book to her chest.  


“Are you sure your friend will be willing to teach me?” The blue pearl asked nervously.  


“Totally!” The purple quartz reassured.” Vidalia is a great artist! I used to pose for her paintings all the time before Steven was born. We try to meet up every now and then to do more portraits.”  


“She must be very talented.” Blue observed.  


“She is indeed.” Amethyst agreed. “She’s the one that painted the portrait of Rose in the house.”  


“That was her work?” Azure awed. “I can’t wait to see her other work then!”  


“That’s the spirit!” Amethyst grinned. “Who knows maybe one of you could be her model today.” The three gems made their way towards the Yellowtail household. As they did Azure pointed towards the trees.  


“They’re changing.” She paused. Some of the leaves were drained of their green color, replaced by bright reds and oranges.”  


“Oh yeah.” Amethyst explained. “It’s almost autumn., the Earth has seasons that change throughout the year. Autumn means that some trees drop their leaves and get ready for winter before growing them back again in the spring.”  


“Are these…seasons significant to humans?” Blue asked.  


“You’ve no idea.” Amethyst laughed. “The humans have a big party each time they change. Oh this is the place.” Amethyst presented Vidalia’s humble home. She rang the doorbell and after a few moments Vidalia answered.  


“Hey Amethyst.” The middle aged mom greeted. “Are these your friends?”  


“Yeup.” Amethyst announced surprising Blue. Amethyst considered her a friend? It made some sense; they had been living together for quite some time. “This is Blue Diamond and Azure.”  


“Pleasure to meet you.” Vidalia said. “Amethyst has told me all about the aspiring artist. Come on in.” Vidalia took them to her garage studio. The shelves were filled with canvases depicting Amethyst in various poses. Some were covered up with an artist’s sheet. Azure was curious and took a peek only to near immediately recoil and cover them back up.  


“Oh my stars!” She gasped with a deep blush.  


“Yeah those are the nude poses.” Amethyst laughed a bit.  


“Your artwork is impressive.” Blue complimented  


“Thank you very much.” The human replied. “This purple rock was always eager to show off for the brush.” Amethyst smiled at the praise and Azure’s lesson began. Azure picked up on Vidalia’s teachings quite well. After a few hours Blue found herself kneeling on a soft cushion posing for a drawing. Azure was enjoying herself sketching in Blue. Soon she had Blue’s body shape and cloak when Pearl unexpectedly arrived, knocking on the garage door. Vidalia opened it for the urgent pale gem.  


“A ship is approaching!” She gasped.  


“What?!” The three now alarmed gems gasped back.  


“Peridot’s sensors just went off!” Pearl explained. “We have to get to the beach!”  
The Gems took off towards the house at once.  


“Sorry V!” Amethyst called. “We’ll have to finish later!”  


“No worries.” Vidalia called back.  
Everyone met at the beach in front of Steven’s house. High in the sky was a bright white arm ship. It was descending towards them.  


“You all need to hide.” Blue said, her voice shaking. “It’s White.”  


“What no way!” Amethyst butted in. “We can take her.”  


“No!” Blue insisted rising to full height. “I…” she tailed off.  


“Do what she says.” Garnet ordered. “We can’t risk fighting so close to the city.”  


“I’ll try to talk to her.” Blue reassured. “We might not have to go back after all. Azure please go with them.”  
That idea was soon proven false as the ship pointed down towards what was left of Blue’s ship. A bright laser streaked from a fingertip and detonated upon contact with the ship.  


“Hiding it is.” Amethyst agreed. The Crystal Gems hurried off the beach behind the rocks near the house. The ship at last landed on the beach not far from Blue. The ship stood with the hand up in the air with fingers out stretched. A hatch on the palm opened and out floated an eerie bleach white Pearl. Her hands were held up with bent arms and open palms. She wore an ornate gown with black gloves covering the entirety of her arms, her hair in a pair of buns. She touched down on the sand not far from Blue and looked up. Her left eye was missing. The spot it should have been was covered in crack like scars. Her body shook as if something else took hold of her. She took a rather relaxed posture as her remaining eye glowed lightly.  


“Who is that?” Steven asked.  


“It’s White Diamond.” Azure said gravely. “She’s unable to leave Homeworld….she…she speaks through her Pearl like a puppet.”  


“That’s horrible!” Steven said.  


“She always was…” Pearl stammered. “That’s why I ran from her.”  


“You served White Diamond?!” Amethyst cut in.  


“She was going to make me into her puppet.” Pearl confirmed. “I…I had to escape…I can’t believe she actually did it.”  


“Blue.” The Diamond in the pale Pearl’s body said. “It’s time to stop.” The voice was emotionless yet stung with implied malice.”  


“I can’t do that White.” Blue said. “I’m sure Yellow has told you. I suspect that somekind of secret organization is operating inside of the Authority and secretly had Pink assassinated!”  


“Yes yes I know.” White silenced. “You’ve been making quite the commotion about it. Do you honestly expect that such a movement could escape my notice?”  


“I do!” Blue responded. “I’m certain one of our own betrayed us Rose Quartz is innocent!”  


”So you intend on pursuing this matter no matter what I see?” White grew bored.  


“Yes!” Blue said.  


“Even to the point of working with traitors?!” White snapped. Her borrowed body turned her attention to the Gem’s hiding place. “You may as well come out. If I wanted you all shattered I’d have done it by now.”  


“Garnet what do we do?” Steven asked.  


“She knows we’re here no point in hiding now.” She sighed. Everyone stepped reluctantly onto the beach behind Blue.  


“No you’ve got it all wrong.” Blue lied. “I’ve captured these traitorous rebels and….”  


“You are many things Blue but a good liar is not one of them.” White interrupted.  


“Please just leave them out of it.” Blue pleaded. “All I want is to know who actually shattered Pink and root out this conspiracy!”  


“Blue enough.” White interrupted again. “No one shattered Pink.”  


“What?!” Blue gasped. “That’s not true! She vanished in that blinding light in the recording!”  


“Oh don’t mistake.” White scoffed. “An attempt was made on her life….but this poor Pearl of mine only managed to break off a small piece of her stone.”  


“Y…your Pearl?!” Blue stepped back in disbelief. “Are you saying….that it was….you!?”  


“Indeed.” White said off handedly. “She was beginning to become bothersome to the expansion of my empire. Unfortunately she managed to escape and ruin my Pearl’s beautiful face in the process.” White ran her fingers over the cracks in her vessel’s face. “A reminder to not fail me again.” Blue Diamond’s eyes began to well up with tears as her fists began to shake.  


“How could you White! She was a Diamond like us! You ordered her death because she only wanted one planet set aside?!”  


“No Gem is like me Blue. Not even you and Yellow. All are beneath me.” White stepped closer. The Gems crowded round Steven worried what the pale Gem would do. “We only had one chance to get rid of her without anyone noticing but yet she lives.”  


“You know where she is?!” Blue pressured. “Tell me!”  


“You mean you haven’t noticed?” White cocked her head, pointing towards a particular gem. “She’s been here this whole time. Honestly she was quite clever, digusing herself as one of her own quartzes, secretly starting this little rebellion, and now she’s chosen the disguise of a little human child.”  


“Mom was Pink Diamond!?” Steven cried out!  


“No!” Blue said looking at Steven and then back at White. “That’s impossible! Without her whole Gem she would have flickered away!”  


“Evidently not.” White said dryly. She projected an image from her Pearl’s gem. “This is a scan of the pieces my Pearl recovered from that night.” Suddenly a beam of light shot from the Pearl’s gem, it ran across Steven’s own. “And here is a scan of…the Steven’s. Observe.” The two holograms reoriented and grew closer and closer. The broken pieces of Pink’s matched the edges of Steven’s perfectly.  


“I…I don’t believe it.” Garnet stammered struggling to stay fused. “Rose was Pink.”  


“It seems that instead of flickering away her stone managed to re-stabilize and default her to her second most used form. That of Rose Quartz.” White explained. The Crystal Gems were frozen at the revelation. Blue began to sob into the sand. Everything she feared came true. Pink was gone, she’d been lied to since the night it happened perhaps even longer.”  


“She was a traitor Blue.” White taunted. “She stood against Homeworld. She made her choice. But you still have yours. Come back home and resume your duties and I’ll overlook your little…adventure.”  


“No!” Blue yelled. “Pink was no traitor!”  


“Blue.” White groaned.  


“You are!” Blue shouted tears continuing to fall. “As a Diamond of the Authority I hereby charge you with treason against Homeworld!”  
“Didn’t you hear me Blue?” White laughed. “All Gems are below me! Yellow will be heartbroken to hear that yet another Diamond has fallen traitor to this planet. She’ll have to assume control of your colonies.”  


“What are you saying?” Blue stammered beginning to get angry. The Gems behind her raised their weapons. “Are you going to shatter me too?”  


“Oh this body is far too weak now to put up a fight against all of you.” White said. “They’ll have to do it. Capture them.” At the snap of her fingers twenty Amethyst and Jasper soldiers stormed the beach and charged. Before anyone could respond Blue unleashed a bright flash of light from her gem. The gems of White’s forces landed in the sand at her feet.  


“Oh my Blue you’ve gone soft!” White laughed. “You wouldn’t have hesitated five thousand years ago.” Her hands raised towards the gemstones in the sand.  


“White please don’t!” Blue begged. White didn’t stop. Bolts of lightning shot from her finger tips shattering the helpless solders in the sand. Blue desperately scooped up the remains in horror. The Crystal Gems rushed White but before any strike could connect she teleported back to her ship.  


“No, matter.” White smirked. “Perhaps it’s better to leave you here to wallow in your despair for a while longer. I’ll see to it that word of your treason reaches all corners of the empire.” With that the hatch closed and the arm ship lifted off the ground and shot off at warp speed leaving the crystal gems in the aftermath.  


“Rose Quartz was actualy Pink Diamond?!” Amethyst cried out.  


“When Rose said Pink was no more….” Pearl said. “She was telling the truth.” Garnet was still struggling to stay fused.  


“Clearly…there were things we were never meant to know.” She said.  


“She…shattered them…” Blue sobbed. “Her own troops…”  
Everyone’s attention turned to Blue Diamond, still holding the remains.  


“Blue” Steven said. “Are you ok?”  


“Are you ok Steven?” She responded turning to look at him, tears still running down her face. “No wonder you remind me so much of Pink. I’m sure she’d be proud of you.”  


“You’re taking this….well.” Steven said.  


“Pink was lost five thousand years ago…” Blue said. “But my worst fears came true, White only wishes to use us all and cast us aside at her whim.” She sobbed at the broken gems in her hands. “I’ll share everything I know about White I promise but right now I’ve got no other choice.” She turned to Garnet.  


“What do you mean?” The fusion looked up at Blue. The Diamond’s eyes filled with sorrow and determination.  


“Garnet.” Blue said with more confidence than she thought she had. “Please, allow me to join the Crystal Gems.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always had it in my head that White was the one who wanted Pink shattered.


	14. Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of White's visit new resolve is found.

“Garnet.” Blue said with more confidence than she thought she had. “Please, allow me to join the Crystal Gems.” Garnet and the rest of the Crystal Gems were still in shock at the revelations White had shared. Not only was she the one that was in charge of a secret plot on Homeworld, Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond in disguise. It was all too much for the fusion. She split apart with a pop sending her two component gems plopping into the sound.  


“You want to what?!” Sapphire spat a mouthful of sand.  


“Sapphire!” Ruby knelt by the blue gem. “Are you ok?”  


“I never foresaw this.” Sapphire sobbed. “I never even considered the possibility!”  


“I know.” Ruby tried to calm her. “We both know Rose had secrets please let’s just talk about this.”  


“She lied to us Ruby!!!” Sapphire shouted. “We escaped from one Diamond only to wind up serving another and for what?!”  


“We couldn’t have known.” Ruby said her voice filled with worry.  


“I should have!” Sapphire butted back, ice forming around her. “I should have looked into her future. She told us not to question ourselves, or Garnet. I was naive enough to not question her either! Was everything our relationship built on a lie?!”  


“Enough!” Blue called. Everyone stopped to look at her. The gem shards she had been holding were suspended in a dark blue bubble. “Everyone here is hurt and confused. We should talk about this in the house.”  


“Blue is right.” Steven said clutching his gem.  


“Oh Steven.” Sapphire whimpered. “I…”  


“It’s ok.” Steven sighed as he followed the others. “Mom must have had a reason…”  
Blue handed the bubble to Pearl as she knelt down in the house. Everyone else took a seat. Pearl looked up at the portrait of Rose.  


“Why would Pink start the Crystal Gems…” She asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”  


“If Rose was a Diamond why couldn’t she stop the colonization herself?” Amethyst pondered.  


“She tried too.” Blue sighed. “Yellow and I refused to listen. After all the time she pleaded and begged for a world of her own it was expected of her to see it through. She found administrative work…boring. She would often send her Pearl on an errand and sneak away, evidently disguised as one of her countless Rose Quartz soldiers. She’d come back eventually and start telling anyone who’d listen about what new thing she found or the place she wandered off to.”  


“So…” Steven said. “She became Rose to…go out and have fun?”  


“It seems that’s how it started.” Blue said. “After the umpteenth time she wandered off the Crystal Gem Rebellion started. Honestly we should have figured it out but there hadn’t been an open rebellion before. Yellow was more interested in squashing it than finding its source.”  


“It wasn’t long after I slipped away from White Diamond.” Pearl confessed. “I stole a small ship and the auto pilot sent me to Earth. I didn’t understand how to work the systems correctly back then; I was just a book keeper. I crashed near a camp and Rose pulled me from the wreck. By this point the war was going for a few hundred years. I was welcomed into the Crystal Gems and I hardly ever left her side. She told me that she wanted to protect the Earth to preserve its beauty.”  


“But why did she have to drag the rest of us into her war!” Sapphire burst out. “She used us to get what she wanted….” Ruby flinched; it wasn’t like Sapphire to be so emotional. Then again it wasn’t like herself to be so calm. She burned for answers.  


“Because of Garnet.” Pearl said simply. “When she saw you two fuse for the first time something inside her changed too. She wasn’t just fighting for a planet anymore. She wanted a place where Gems could decide for themselves who they wanted to be.”  


“We…inspired her?” Ruby awed.  


“Garnet was the first fusion of different gems in….” Blue trailed off. “Even I can’t remember.”  


“Rose went on endlessly about what Garnet represented” Pearl started getting exited. “Suddenly anything was possible, Gems could grow and change and become whatever they wanted.”  


“She…was fighting for us?” Sapphire calmed down. “For the chance for us to be…us.”  


“I think I get it!” Ruby perked up. “Pink Diamond wanted to change too! Think about it she could have done anything she wanted and she chose to be Rose.”  


“Earth was Pink’s world.” Blue smiled. “And she wanted to give it to you. The Crystal Gems, humanity, all the life that existed here. I couldn’t understand it until I came here too. This world is….home.”  


“Yes…” Sapphire said. “It is. I’ve realized something too.”  


“What is that?” Ruby asked as Sapphire took her hands.  


“I love you.” The clairvoyant Gem said to her lover.  


“I love you too.” The red gem responded.  


“Garnet may be us.” Sapphire continued. “But she’ll never get to look into your eyes like I am right now.”  


“Sapphire.” Ruby blushed. “I feel the same way. M maybe we don’t have to be fused all the time…I mean I’ll always love being her with you…b bbut it would be…Aw man…  


“I know what you’re trying to say.” Sapphire said. “I would love to spend time as the two of us Ruby.” The two lovers embraced in a deep hug. Amethyst and Peridot’s hands found eachother’s, Steven looked up at the portrait of his mom and smiled a little. Suddenly it didn’t matter if she was Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. She fought for what she believed in and was who she chose to be.  


“I guess she’s still the gem we knew huh Pearl.” He said.  


“Indeed Steven.” Pearl sighed. “To think that I fell in love with a Diamond, it seems so farfetched! What are you staring at?” Steven was making a funny face at her.  


“You loved her.” He teased.Pearl scooped him up into a hug of her own.  


“Well I never really knew her.” Lapis shrugged. “Why not add one more crazy thing onto the pile. So…are Blue and Azure Crystal Gems now or…”  
Everyone looked to Ruby and Sapphire. The pair looked at each other for a moment.  


“Blue Diamond?” Sapphire asked. “Are you sure you want this?”  


“White already said she’d spread that fact across Homeworld anyway.” She said. “Why not make something she says truthful for once. Truth be told… living here with you all…has been the happiest time of my life. Back on Homeworld I was more feared than respected and after what happened to Pink I cut myself off and was swallowed by my grief. It’s hard to explain but…I’m happy here. This place is home to me now…if you’ll have me of course.”  


“Azure?” Ruby asked the blue Pearl.  


“I want to be free here on Earth with Blue.” She responded. “I want to keep learning art from Miss. Vidalia, I want to live here and try new things. I want to decide for myself what I want. If I go back to Homeworld I’ll just be another Pearl among millions of others…here…I’m me.”  


“Are there any objections?” Sapphire asked the room.  


“Blue’s been great ever since she showed up.” Amethyst smirked. “Finding out I’m a rare Deep Cut Gem was a pleasant surprise.”  


“I joined the Crystal Gems.” Lapis said. “So, why not a Diamond?”  


“I agree.” Peridot said.  


“Pink…Rose.” Pearl corrected. “Wanted this planet to be a place any Gem could choose. I believe Blue is being sincere with her wishes.”  


“And Azure has been really fun too!’ Steven said. “She’s a super good drawer and she’s interested in everything she sees. I don’t think I’ve seen her put down that sketchbook.”  
Ruby and Sapphire began to glow as their forms merged. In a flash of light Garnet stood proudly.  


“Then welcome to the family.” She said stoically.  


“Thank you so much!” Blue said embracing the fusion. Garnet was surprised. The very same Diamond that ordered her to be shattered was hugging her like an old friend.  


“Um….” Garnet blanked out.  


“Oh, sorry.” Blue let the fusion go.  


“Alright!” Amethyst broke in. “Azure what do you think of a new outfit now that your officialy an Earth Gem!”  


“Oh?” Azure looked down at herself. “I’ve worn gowns like this for as long as I can remember. They suited a servant but I suppose now it is a bit…impractical.”  


“Oh I whole heartedly agree.” Pearl said. “Do you have any ideas?”  


“Not really.” Azure said flatly. “Where should I start?”  


“I can help you surf the internet for inspiration.” Peridot offered. Azure accepted the green gem’s offer and the two excused themselves to Peridot’s share of Amethyst’s room. Peridot began going through different types of fashion and clothing. Azure was just scrolling through a gallery when her eyes lit up under her bangs.  


“This one!” She cooed.  
Meanwhile in the living room Blue had settled with keeping her cloak, but had added a lighter blue star across her left hip.  


“Lapis if I may ask.” Blue said. “Why have you and Periot not added stars yourself?”  


“Eh..” Lapis shrugged. “We never really thought about it.” The temple door opened and Peridot stepped out.  


“Everyone.” She said. “I present the new Azure.” At this cue Azure herself stepped forward. The first thing everyone noticed was her face. She had reformed her hair in its normal style but with her bangs drastically shortened to reveal her pale blue eyes. Her gown was gone replaced by a baggy light blue hoodie with a small star on the pocket and jean shorts. She retained her slippers.  


“How do I look?” She asked hopefully.  


“Wow Azure!” Steven awed “You look like a brand new Gem!” Everyone else could only agree with him.  


“I feel brand new.” Azure blushed. “Oh Blue you have a star too!”  


“No turning back now I suppose.” Blue laughed. After congratulations were had the conversation took a more serious turn.  


“So now we know that White Diamond is the leader of the shadow organization.” Garnet said grimly.  


“I propose that we find a way to travel to Homeworld and confront White directly.” Blue said.  


“Uh…” Peridot said. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”  


“Yeah what if things go wrong and we end up trapped.” Lapis added.  


“I know a way we can go back and forth…hopefuly.” Steven said. “The same way I got home after the trial!”  


“I never did ask how you did that did I?” Blue quizzed.  
Steven quickly ran over to the door and called for Lion. When the big cat arrived Steven was blunt.  


“Lion, I have to talk to Lars!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a while. We're getting into the start of the final arc. But don't worry the story will continue on!


	15. New Allies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven takes Blue to meet with some friends of his.

Steven had disappeared into Lion’s mane with a flash of light, no sooner had he left Blue asked her question.

“Who is this...Lars?”

“He was one of the humans you sent Aquamarine and Topaz to capture.” Pearl said. “He ended up on Homeworld with Steven.”

“Have must have been the one Yellow’s Zircon brought into the trial to illustrate that humans served no purpose...according to homeworld standards of course!” Blue quickly corrected.

“How did Lars even manage to escape the trail with Steven any way?” Lapis asked, her arms crossed.

“After Yellow lost her temper Steven grabbed him and stole my palanquin while I was yelling at her.” Blue said embarrassed.

“He didn’t!” Pearl gasped

“Crashed it right through the roof.” Azure commented.

Amethyst flopped onto her back in a fit of laughter as Blue blushed a dark color.

“I took me a moment to realize what had happened.” Blue chuckled. “Yellow was positively furious!”

“Send out the drones and find her NOW!” Azure mimicked in her best Yellow Diamond voice.

Every shared a burst of laughter at the pearl’s antics. Lapis snorted once or twice.

“I once called Yellow a clod right to her face!” Peridot laughed.

“That was you!” Azure gasped.

“Sure was!” Peridot said triumphantly with her hands on her hips.

“Yellow Diamond nearly threw her console out into space she was so mad!” Azure exclaimed. “We were just about to meet with her when it happened!”

“No way!” Peridot burst out!

“When we arrived at my quarters for the evening we could finally let out all our pent up laughter.” Blue wiped away a giddy tear remembering that night.

A flash of light emitted from Lion’s mane as Steven returned.

“They want to see you.” He said.

“Me?” Blue pointed to herself. “But wouldn’t I be the last gem they want to be around?” She had been filled in on these “Off-Colors”. 

“They didn’t believe me when I told them you changed sides.” Steven said. “They said to bring you through Lion’s mane in twenty minutes.”

“I understand.” Blue said. Just then there was a series of loud knocks at the door. Being nearest the door Pearl opened it up. A human girl with dark skin and hair practically fell into the house.

“Steven!” She cries out.

“Connie!” Steven called. The two humans embraced for a moment before holding each other arms length.

“I came over as soon as I got back from my martial arts tournament!” She said. “What happened?!”

“White came for Blue.” Steven said.

“Are you ok Blue?” Connie asked. She had met Blue and Azure a few times before she had left to compete in a martial arts tournament in Empire City. She was updated via text messages from Steven over the few days she’d been gone.

“I’m ok Connie.” Blue reassured. She quickly explained everything that had happened since White arrived.

“That’s awful!” Connie said.

“White needs to be stopped.” Blue said determined. “I just hope that this...Lars is willing to help us...”

“Blue.” Garnet interrupted. “It’s time.”

Blue nodded and shrunk herself down to Steven’s size as he lead her through Lion’s pocket dimension. They emerged out of Lar’s head into a rocky landscape on some unknown planet. Blue allowed herself to return to her standard height as she turned around to face Lars.

“Was he pink at the trial?” She whispered to Steven.

“Long story.” He said.

Blue looked up. Sitting on top of a high rocky cliffface sat a familiar gem ship with a crowd of very unfamiliar gems standing near it. They peered over the edge at her. She couldn’t see much of their forms over the top of the rocks but they appeared to be incredibly nervous and uncomfortable.

“Blue Diamond will soon arrive.” Said a quiet voice. “But she will be bewildered by the situation and not hold malicious intent! Oh what a relief!”

It must have been the Padparadscha Sapphire. The one that couldn’t see the future, but saw the immediate past.

“L look!” Came a shakey voice. Was it the Rhodonite? “She’s wearing a star! Why would be wearing a star?”

Blue looked down to Lars as he stood up in front of her.

“You wanted to see me?” She asked.

“Yes I did.” The young pink human said with much bravado. “Last time I saw you, you had me and Steven as your prisoners and out of nowhere you suddenly want our help? How do I know it’s not some trick to capture me and my crew?”

“I understand your confusion.” Blue said softly. “Everything I’ve known about homeworld is a lie. White Diamond has been secretly pushing her own agenda, including the attempted shattering of Pink Diamond.”

A quiet chorus of murmurs came from the cliff top.

“So Steven’s mom was innocent then.” Lars said smugly. “Guess that means you can leave Earth alone then.”

“Well...” Steven cut in. “It turns out Mom was Pink Diamond.”

“You can’t be serious.” Lars scoffed. “Your mom was one of the gem leaders? Why can’t she do something about it herself.”

Steven and Blue explained Blue’s defection and about how White came to silence her.

“She said she wanted me to wallow in my despair...” Blue said grimly. “Meaning, she must be planning to comeback with a larger force. I want to confront her on homeworld before she has a chance to mobilize her army.”

“You want us to go back!?” Rhodonite shouted from her perch. “Are you crazy!? It’s insane enough that Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz but if we go back we’ll all be shattered!”

“I understand your situation...” Blue said. “We’ve treated you all...poorly.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Rutile said. “We were treated like we were monsters.”

“And I apologize deeply for that.” Blue said. “But I see that our ways were wrong. Steven tells me you all wish to see Earth. It’s wonderful. I’ve lived there for the past few months and I’ve never been happier. I’ve even joined the Crystal Gems!”

Lars and his crew looked unsure.

“I’d love for you all to join us living in peace.” Blue went on. “But I fear there won’t be an Earth it White has her way. Our best chance will require your assistance. Please help us and I promise you will reach Earth safely.”

“Not that it matters” Rutile spoke. “Our ship’s warp drive is shot.”

“We can’t sustain warp speed.” Lars nodded. “Even if we wanted to help it would take to long to get to Homeworld anyway.”

“Is that...Commander Emerald’s Sun Incinerator?” Blue asked.

“Yeah we...barrowed it.” Lars said smugly.

“Peridot’s little Robonoid could fix it!” Blue perked up. 

“Hey yeah!” Steven agreed. “What do you say Lars? We fix your ship you get us to HW?”

At this Lar’s crew began to argue and bicker amongst each other until Fluorite slowly broke in.

“Blue Diamond is correct....” She said. “...if White gets to Earth... our escape means nothing.” The realization made everyone else begrudgingly agree.

“Looks like we have a deal.” Lars said.

“Oh!” Padparadscha burst out. “I foresee an unexpected alliance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Busy with college work. Don’t worry this story will be finished no matter what. Thanks for your patience.


	16. Voyage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems travel to Homeworld and a plan off attack is made.

After the deal was made to take the Crystal Gems back to Homeworld work began to repair the Sun Incinerator’s warp drive.

Peridot was in the ship’s engine room with Fluorite. The tiny technician and the giant fusion had taken apart the drive and were trying to suss out the problems with it. She had also brought Gooey the Robonoid with her but the little marble robot was still not functioning properly.

“Where did...you get that...” The caterpillar-like fusion asked slowly.

“I salvaged him from an old tower on Earth.” Peri explained. “I call him Gooey, but Pearl and I haven’t had luck getting him to work at full efficiency.”

“Let me see.” Fluorite asked, and Peridot handed the machine over. Fluorite opened a panel on the side of Gooey’s body and peered in. After a few moments she handed Gooey back to Peridot.

“See that there?” She said to the technician. Peridot affirmed and Fluorite instructed her through swapping various circuits and realigning a few goo ducts. Finally Peridot closed the panel and set Gooey down on the floor. The little robot sprung to life and stood on his four little cylindrical legs. It tilted towards Peridot as if waiting for orders.

“Whoa!” Peridot gasped. “He’s completely restored! How did you know?”

“One...of my...components.” Fluorite smiled. “Was a technician...as well.” 

“Wow.” Peridot said. “You and your group are full of surprises. It’ll be nice to have you guys on Earth when this is all over.” She quickly ordered Gooey to start spraying the warp drive core.

“I look...forward to it.” Fluorite said as she and Peridot started putting the drive back together. Once it was done they joined the others and the ship shot forward into warp speed. Stars and planets shot by as the ship traveled light years in mere seconds.

In the upper level of the ship the crystal gems were trying not to get in the way in the small bridge. The off-color crew were all in there stations making adjustments to their consoles. No one was saying a word.

“Someone should say something.” Steven whispered.

“I don’t think they want to talk to us dude.” Amethyst hushed. “I mean if I were one of them and suddenly I was asked to back I sure wouldn’t feel inclined to have a chat.”

“We can here you ya know.” Lars said from his seat.

“Thank you for doing this.” Blue said cautiously. “I know you’ve got no real reason to trust me...”

“Just what are we doing exactly?” Lars asked.

“You know how I got home the last time we were on homeworld.” Steven said.

“So...you want me to be the escape route?” Lars figured.

“Yes!” Steven said. “You’ll come with us and if something goes wrong we’ll all escape together and we’ll all meet back on Earth.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Lars said. “Any idea what to expect?”

“Not really.” Blue Diamond admitted

“What I don’t understand is why Blue Diamond suddenly wants to fight homeworld!” Rhodonite blurted out. “What if it’s a trap! We are wanted fugitives!”

Blue Diamond sighed and once again retold her story.

“White Diamond has everyone doing exactly what she wants.” She sighed once more. “She used Yellow, Pink and myself to enforce the status quo and was secretly manipulating everything else behind closed doors. All to suit herself above all else.”

“So your saying that...” Rutile started. “Everything homeworld has ever done was because White Diamond herself ordered it...secretly or otherwise?”

“And when Pink started to get in the way of her will...” Blue continued. “She silenced even her. No one is safe, not even Yellow and myself.”

The ship went silent save for the hum of the engines.

“I fear we’re about to receive a grave revelation.” Padparadscha said grimly.

“Why would this...White Diamond go behind everyone’s back?” Lars asked after what seemed like an eternity.

“That’s...unclear.” Azure broke in.

“White Diamond has always been the most reclusive.” Garnet said adjusting her visor. “I can’t get a clear picture of her plans...only that it serves ‘the elite of the elite’.”

“I’m also concerned with White’s plans for the cluster.” Blue said. “Yellow oversaw its incubation but White was the one who proposed it.” Garnet’s eye twitched a bit under her visor. The cluster was a touchy subject for her. Blue continued. “No doubt she seeks to weaponize it somehow.”

There was silence again. After what felt like a few minutes Blue spoke again.

“When we arrive we have to find out exactly what White’s end goal is and if possible confront her directly.” Blue said. “I know where we can land without being noticed and sneak into the Authority’s headquarters.”

“Ok...” Lapis spoke up. “Any idea what we should expect?”

“No idea.” Blue said. “Which is why I propose that Azure and I go back to the headquarters as if I’ve ‘come to my senses’ and see if I can keep White’s attention while the rest of the Crystal Gems get inside White’s chamber and see if you can uncover her schemes. I’ll do all that I can to ensure your not spotted. As for your crew Lars, after we disembark hide behind one of Homeworld’s moons.”

“Y you mean we won’t have to fight!” Rhodonite squeaked. 

“Of course not.” Blue said. “You already risked enough escaping the first time.”

“It’s a good plan.” Garnet said in support. “Gems?”

One by one Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot, Azure, Connie and Steven all agreed on Blue’s plan.

“Ok.” Lars said confidently. “We’ll hang back and wait for your word to pick you guys up.”

“Captain!” Rutile spoke up from her panel. “Approaching Homeworld, exiting warp now!” 

The ship dropped out of warp and Homeworld came into view.

The Crystal Gems gasped. The planet was broken. Entire continent sized pieces of it floated around its outer core. 

“What happened to it?” Steven asked dumbfounded.

“Homeworld has destabilized.” Blue explained.

“It’s why era 2 Gems like me were scaled down.” Peridot explained. “The pieces are held in orbit and have been kept there for the entire second era.”

“Ok Gems.” Garnet cut in. “Enough gawking. We have a mission to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hiatus college and all that. Nearly finished with the Semester though. I’ll be updating more consistently after the 12 of December


	17. Infiltration: Blue Diamond’s Plan.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems finally arrive on Homeworld. As they split up to cover more ground and uncover White’s endgame Blue goes to try to explain everything to Yellow.

Blue felt like her stomach was in her throat as Lars and his crew piloted the Sun Incinerator towards Homeworld’s surface. If the ship didn’t approach at an incredibly precise speed and altitude they would miss the recharge cycle on the radar and be detected and shot down. Once they were on the ground she had to make sure that all eyes were on her so the rest of the Crystal Gems could sneak into White’s restricted area and ultimately White Diamond’s very palace undetected.

They had their missions and cover stories. Garnet would unfuse and Pearl would escort Ruby Sapphire through the VIP areas. Blue gave the Pearl the proper access codes to use so her inexperience with new homeworld tech wouldn’t immediately blow their cover.

Peridot and Amethyst would acquire a set of limb enhancers and proceed through the maintenance tunnels as a technician and her quartz escort where security would be looser. Peridot would cause a disturbance in the system to lure security away from nonessential areas of the 

Blue also knew about Steven and Connie’s own fusion. Once they were on the ground the two of them would combine they would go with Lapis and sneak into the restricted zone and meet with the the others inside.

Blue saved the hardest task for herself. She’d approach the palace openly and request an audience with Yellow. Hopefully she’d be willing to do...something...anything now that she had proof White had her own secret government. Even if she was a fugitive surely her status as a Diamond would be enough to convince the lower ranked gems there had been a mistake. The trick would be convincing Yellow.

Lar’s crew dropped them off a fair distance away from White’s palace and retreated to the safety behind one of Homeworld’s moons in orbit.

“We all know what we have to do?” Garnet quizzed

Everyone nodded.

Blue looked down at Azure. The brave blue pearl had assumed her old servant appearance once more.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with the others?” Blue asked.

“I believe I’ll be most useful with you.” Azure said. “I’m not very good in a fight...I can’t summon a weapon...I don’t have any special powers...I’m just a Pearl.”

“Azure you’re not just...” Blue was interrupted when Azure held up a hand.

“Yes I am.” Azure said. “I’m another face in the crowd. No one will notice one Pearl out of millions go missing for a while. I could sneak off and see what I can find.”

“Oh Azure!” Blue smiled. “That’s genius!”

“Thanks.” The proud pearl said.

“Ok team.” Garnet interjected. “It’s time to get started.

Everyone spit into their groups and began traveling towards their designated entry points. As Blue and Azure approached the front entrance Blue wiped the bright star from her hip. Best not to return wearing the symbol of the “enemy”.

The geometric shapes of the palace towers loomed over Blue and Azure as they approached. Azure did her best to remember the proper Pearl behaviors. She had almost forgotten all the little details and demands each Pearl had to memorize. Earth was so different...before she would have assumed her role without question or hesitation. But now that she had lived on earth for those wonderful few months...being a homeworld Pearl again was...incredibly uncomfortable.

“I know Azure.” Blue sighed seeing her friend tugging at her uniform like it was out of place. “It all feels so wrong now...j just do your best and I promise we’ll be back home soon.”

“Do you mean...Earth?” Azure asked hopefully.”

“Ofcourse I do.” Blue said. “Now j just act...like nothing changed since we left.”

As they approached the front entryway a group of Ruby guards took notice of them.

“Halt! You’re approaching a restrict...B Blue Diamond ma’am!” The lead Ruby saluted. “F forgive me b but you are wanted fugitive a and we must bring you in for questioning!” The Jasper flinched as if knowing Blue could obliterate her without the slightest difficulty.

“On who’s authority trooper?” Blue asked in a somewhat hostile manner. Internally she hated watching the squad of Rubies fear her so.

“I really was a terror...” She thought to her self.

“Y Yellow Diamond’s!” The lead Ruby squeaked. “T there are orders to bring you to her immediately!”

“Good that will save me the trouble of finding her.” She scoffed. “There appears to have been a grave misunderstanding.”

“S so you haven’t betrayed homeworld?” One of the Rubies asked.

“N no!” Blue blurted out the lie before collecting herself. “Do you doubt my loyalty little one?”

“N not at all my diamond!” The Ruby stuttered. “W White Diamond c claimed y you were working with the Rebel Traitors I is all!”

“Ah I see how it is. Take me to Yellow so I can clear this up.” Blue passed it off as she allowed the five Rubies to escort her into the palace. “I had...captured the rebels and was forcing them to aid my investigation.”

The Rubies quietly murmured to themselves. Blue could hear little “I told you so”s and “Oh that makes sense.”s

After a short walk Azure glanced down a hallway and spotted Pearl, Sapphire and Ruby being escorted by a rather chatty Agate. Ruby flashed Azure a thumbs up. Azure nodded in response before turning her attention back to Blue and their own escort.

As they approached a large yellow door at the end of a long hallway the lead Ruby spoke.

“Here we are.” She announced. “Yellow Diamond’s chamber!”

“T thank you.” Blue said. “Now back to your post.” The Rubies gave a salute and scurried back to the entrance of the palace. Blue knelt down to Azure.

“Your doing great Azure.” She praised. “Once I’m inside sneak off and find anything you can.” Azure nodded and Blue stood back up to knock on Yellow’s door.

Just before she could the door slid open violently and a hand grabbed Blue by the wrist and yanked her inside. The door slammed shut behind her.

Inside the bright room Yellow stared at Blue, her face hot with anger.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done!” She spat. “White’s has us on high alert saying you sided with those crystal traitors! Your lucky you were found by those dimwitted Ruby guards. White’s court wants you shattered Blue!”

“Yellow you have to listen to me.” Blue started. “White is!”

“Enough of this Blue!” Yellow interrupted again. “Ever since the trail you’ve been letting your emotions run wild. Dismissing your duties as a Diamond and galavanting off to Earth, accusing THE White Diamond of such a heinous offense as shattering a fellow diamond! I knew we should have shattered Rose Quartz when we had the chance.”

“His name is Steven!” Blue shot back shaking her wrist free. She got up in Yellow’s face. Yellow took a step back. Blue took a step forward. “Ever since Pink’s incident you only cared about finding Rose Quartz blinded by your anger!”

“You act like I never cared for Pink! I loved her too Blue!” Yellow yelled.

“I know you did!” Blue snapped “But you only wanted to punish someone for it! You never asked questions! I wanted answers! Well now I’ve got them Yellow!” Blue continued to put Yellow on the defensive. The deep pit of emotions in the Blue matriarch’s core began to soften. She’d been holding it in for so long. It felt good to finally speak her mind. 

“Rose was Pink the entire time! She wanted Earth spared so badly she took it upon herself to do something about it after we refused! Indirectly it’s our fault!” Tears began to well up in her eyes. “White has plans of her own! Secret plans! And when Pink’s rebellion got in the way of those plans she tried to have Pink assassinated!”

“Blue you can’t be serious of all the far fetched...”

“It’s true Yellow!” Blue interrupted. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a video screen. She pushed it into Yellow’s face and let the footage taken from Pink’s Palanquin play. Peridot has done an amazing job cleaning up the video and audio. After the assailant had stabbed Pink in the stomach and the bright flash erupted from her form. One could see the faintest outline of Pink warp and shift into that of Rose Quarts for a precious few frames.

The screen blanked off. Yellow didn’t say a word.

“Yellow?” Blue checked.

“Start over, from the beginning.” Yellow sniffed. Blue wasn’t sure, but she thought she could see tears in the corners of her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow over 800 hits!? Thanks so much for reading this everyone! I apologize for the hiatus but I’m sure we’re all used to that by now! Like I said come hell or high water this story will be finished. Just a little bit more now!
> 
> Next chapter soon!


	18. Infiltration:The Upper Crust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl Ruby and Sapphire begin their infiltration of White’s court.

After Blue went through the plan Pearl and Garnet split from the group to reach their objective. 

“Ok.” Pearl reassured herself. “We did this before at the Zoo. We can do it again right Garnet?” 

“I just hope I remember all the details of court life.” Garnet grunted.

“I know...” Pearl sighed. “I’m not that kind of Pearl any more. Hopefully Blue’s access codes are still good.”

“Maybe.” Garnet grunted again.

“Are you ok?” Pearl asked concerned. She knew the fusion long enough to know when something was wrong.

Garnet said nothing.

“It’s about Blue isn’t it.” Pearl guessed. “Are you unsure if you can completely trust her?”

“It’s just hard to believe that she could change so much...” Garnet admitted. “But that’s not it. Everything I’ve seen...everything Blue has done since she came to us...it’s genuine. She hasn’t given us reason to doubt that.”

“Then...what is it?” The concerned pale gem asked.

“Ever since Blue officially became a Crystal Gem.” Garnet said grimly. “My future vision has been...buggy.”

“Buggy?” Pearl puzzled.

“All I know for sure is Blue Diamond is a Crystal Gem through and through...as surprising as that is.” Garnet sighed.

“We all were shocked.” Pearl soothed.

“Not even my future vision can show me how this will play out.” Garnet continued. “Now that Blue is one of us all my past predictions have either altered significantly or have out right ceased existing.”

“So...you don’t have your usual idea of how this will end?” Pearl said.

“No.” Garnet said. “If I’m honest I’m pretty scared.”

“I know...” Pearl shuddered. “We’re walking into the lion’s den.”

“If push comes to shove we’ll have to fight our way out.” Garnet said grimly. “We’re almost at our entry point.”

“Right.” Pearl said putting on a brave face. “Let’s stick to the plan and see just how deep this conspiracy runs in White Diamond’s court.”

Garnet began to glow as her form shrunk down and separated into Ruby and Sapphire.

“If we play this straight we should be fine.” Ruby said.

“Remember we have to find someone with a silver dagger.” Sapphire reminded. “It’s the only connection we have to the conspiracy.”

“I should probably change into something less...earthy.” Pearl sighed. “The zoo was one thing but these elite gems will know something is up if I don’t...look the part.”

Sapphire nodded as Pearl’s clothing fades into light and reshaped along her tall thin form. Her new look featured a simple pale grey leotard with a shear white skirt with matching sleeves.

“Good idea Pearl.” Ruby admired. “You definitely won’t look out of place.”

“Let’s just get in and get what we came for.” Pearl grunted. “This thing is very uncomfortable.”

The group neared their entrance when they were stopped by a pair of Amethyst guards.

“Halt!” One of them ordered. “State your business here.”

“I was summoned by White Diamond.” Sapphire lied. “I must meet with one of her advisors.”

“I don’t remember hearing about any late arrivals.” The imposing quartz mused. “You three need to give me more info. What are your designations?”

“I’m afraid I cannot tell you.” Sapphire said sternly. “Classified.”

“And who are you meeting with?” The second amethyst pressured.

“That is also classified.” Sapphire insisted. “Please let us in. White will be very unhappy if we are delayed.” The amethysts remained unconvinced.

“This sounds real suspicious.” The lead Amethyst scowled her voice filled with gravel. “I’m gonna call in to confirm.”

Ruby readied her boxing glove behind her back as the amethyst was passed a light-tablet. 

“What is going on here!?” A voice suddenly rang out. All eyes turned down the hallway as a tall yet stocky agate approached. 

Her skin was a pale silver, her hair snow white with bands of pale blue and grey on the pair of “horns” poking from the sides of her head. Her uniform was a standard design similar to Holly Blue’s from the human zoo but this Agate’s was a more monochromatic in black and sliver. Her gemstone on display proudly where a human’s Adam’s apple sat. Clearly she was a higher rank than holly. On her hip was a ceremonial sheathe containing an unmistakable silver dagger.

“Cloud Agate!” The two Amethyst’s saluted. One of them continued. “This Sapphire and her entourage say they were summoned by White Diamond but they...

“Oh then by all means trooper let them pass!” Cloud Agate bubbled. “If White wants them here they must be important!”

“But!” The guards insisted before being interrupted by the enthusiastic Agate.

“I know I know not on the arrival list.” Cloud Agate waved off. “You know our dear White Diamond! Always making changes at the last moment. You both were just doing your job after all but I’m sure the correct info will get to us eventually. I’ll escort them in from here.”

“Uhh.” The flabbergasted guards hesitated.

“Oh don’t worry about it!” Cloud insisted. “Now back to work and do your best to look intimidating! You both are doing a fantastic job!”

“Yes Ma’am!” The bulky Amethysts smiled as Cloud Agate motioned for Sapphire Ruby and Pearl to follow her. It was kind of bizarre to see an Agate so upbeat and cheerful. Normally Agates would shout and bark orders. Cloud Agate seemed to work on the other side of the spectrum praising and encouraging her subordinates.

“Um....” Sapphire droned. “Thank you for your assistance Cloud Agate.”

“My pleasure your clarity.” Cloud smiled. “Now who is it you were sent to meet with?”

“We...uh...we.” Sapphire began to freeze up not used to improvising. Ruby reaches out and grabbed her hand and Sapphire’s near panic attack calmed down a bit.

“Oh right!” Cloud laughed. “Classified silly me. I’ll bring you to the main hall and I’m sure you can find where your going from there.”

“Uh..Ma’am?” Ruby chanced. “C can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” Cloud looked back. “You don’t have to be formal with me solder call me Cloud or Cloud Agate. What was your question?”

“How long have you served White Diamond?” 

“Oh since I first emerged!” Cloud excitedly. “I’ve worked so diligently every day to prove myself to Her Radiance White Diamond and I’m so proud to say it paid off! I was just awarded with my silver dagger not to long ago! Unfortunately the ceremony was cut short. White had to depart quite suddenly something about Blue Diamond causing trouble on that old colony in the Crystal System but I’m sure all of homeworld knows that by now! I’m sure Blue has her reasons to act out like she has but I do hope she returns soon her court miss her very much and poor Yellow has gotten so busy covering for her!....”

Cloud Agate was so busy talking she didn’t notice passing by Blue and Azure in the next hallway over as the two groups walked past a connecting hall between them. Ruby exchanged a thumbs up with Azure before they lost sight of each other.

“...and as a a dagger holder I’m finally eligible for promotion to the next rank!” Cloud babbled on. “So many of my superiors tell me that White has many grand ideas to get Homeworld back on track after...the uh...well you know...the cracking.”

“Yes...” Sapphire pretended. “Such a tragedy.”

“I know!” Cloud kept talking as they reached a set of doors. Pearl moved up to punch in Blue’s access codes.

“Oh don’t trouble your self my dear Pearl I’m sure you do plenty for your Sapphire already.” Cloud motioned her back and entered the code herself. “No need for us high ranking gems to be lazy. We must set a good example for those under our command after all.” Pearl noticed as the door opened, that the code she was going to enter was different than the one Cloud entered. They must have changed the codes after Blue defected.

“But yes the cracking was terrible!” Cloud regained her train of thought as she welcomed them into the great hall. Dozens of gems of dozens of types were gathered all in grey black and white uniforms discussing and debating dozens of subjects. Cloud continued talking. “White was so distraught when it happened. I still can’t believe White accidentally split the planet like she did in her sorrow! But that’s the power of a Diamond for you!”

Sapphire Ruby and Pearl suspected the real reason was that white blew homeworld apart in frustration that Pink secretly escaped as Rose for the rest of the war. Surprising as the revelation White herself was responsible for the planet breaking apart was they still had more pressing issues.

“Our presence here will involve White’s closest advisors.” Sapphire faked. “Seeing as how your a few steps away from joining them you must know where they meet?”

“Oh the Inner Circle!” Cloud squeaked. “Yes yes I’d be privileged to assist you Your Clarity! This way please.” 

“This agate is certainly a talker.” Ruby whispered.

“She’s practically spoon feeding is info.” Pearl hushed. “This is easier than I thought.”

“We’re so lucky to have the Inner Circle.” Cloud said happily. “White’s idea. She charged them with finding a way to reunite the pieces of homeworld so we might restore the empire to go with it! Just uh...keep it secret mind you. They’re not ready to unveil themselves until they’re sure homeworld can be made whole again.”

“I’m willing to bet that’s a lie.” Pearl whispered to Ruby.”

“Yeah. Sounds like they tried to stay hidden for a lot longer.” Ruby whispered back.

“Homeworld’s cracking must have forced them to come out to at least some of White’s court as part of damage control.” Pearl theorized.

Cloud brought them to a doorway leading into a more private chamber. 

“Here we are.” Agate welcomed. “The next meeting isn’t for some time but please feel free to pull up any documents on your holoscreen on the table inside.” As she opened the doorway something beeped under Cloud’s shall. She reached in and pulled out a holoscreen of her own.

“Hmm...apologies Your Clarity.” She bowed. “I’m needed in the lower levels.” Cloud dismissed herself.

“That’s where Peridot and Amethyst went.” Pearl worried.

“Well they were supposed to draw security and look through the computer systems down there.” Ruby reminded.

“They’ll be ok.” Sapphire assured. “We need to do our own jobs here before this ‘Inner Circle arrives.” Stepping inside and closing the door behind them the three Crystal gems activated the large sleek table’s built in holoscreens and began pulling up the records of the secret meetings and any personal on record. From what they could find it seemed as if this “Inner Circle” had been running things on homeworld since the very beginning.

“This...this is bigger than we thought.” Pearl gasped.

“Look at this.” Sapphire drew everyone’s attention to her screen.

It depicted a massive list of names and designations. Scrolling past them Sapphire stopped at a log entry. 

It read “Three new Diamonds have emerged. White has instructed that she and the others are to rule publicly under the guise of expanding the empire. Meanwhile White Diamond and we Her Inner Circle shall manipulate events from within. Secrecy essential to success of White Diamond’s Grand Design the new matriarchs must be kept in the dark as the rest of the lower gems until they have served their purpose. Perfection awaits.”

“Blue was right.” Pearl sighed. “Even the Diamonds are pawns in all this.”

“But what’s this...perfection awaits thing mean?” Ruby asked.

“We have to keep digging.” Sapphire said bravely. “And quickly.”

The three gems began flipping through screen after screen determined to find the bottom of this ever expanding rabbit hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re almost at the climax people!  
> What exactly is White’s plan?  
> What’s she got to do with Homeworld’s broken apprence.  
> How did Cloud Agate get so adorable!?
> 
> Next chapter will see her investigating that little disturbance in the lower levels. No doubt Amethyst and Peridot’s doing.


	19. Infliltration: Data Core.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Peridot investigate the under level of the palace and pick up an unwilling someone.

“That’s it.” Peridot said nervously as she pointed to the side entrance of the maintenance area.

“No guards or nothing?” Amethyst smirked. “This is gonna be easy!”

“Your my guard.” Peridot quipped. “They call it ‘supervision’.

“That has to suck.” Amethyst griped.

“Ever since the rebellion they’ve been keeping a close eye on projects.” Peridot elaborated. “You never know when a pair of Crystal Gem spies will sneak in and steal confidential information from the data base.”

“Ya mean like us right now?” Amethyst jokes.

“Precisely.” Peridot laughed. “Now when we get in there I’ll need a set of Limb Enhancers so I can blend in.”

“One set of enhancers coming up.” Amethyst said. Her form began to glow as she expanded outward into the shape of a standard quartz soldier. “How do I look?”

“You look very imposing.” Peridot flirted. “Now let’s get to work.” The pair approached the side entrance and entered into a dark grimy tunnel. The sounds of gems talking and relaying orders in the distance. Not far in the tunnel there was another doorway.

“There’s where we’ll get the enhancers.” Peridot pointed. “Someone is sure to have noticed our late arrival. Buy me some time to suit up.”

“Wait what!? Already!?” Amethyst stuttered. “What do I....”

“Trooper!” Said a voice from behind her. Amethyst wheeled around to see a homeworld Peridot with her gem for an eye and square shaped hair starring at her. Her limb enhancer encased arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. “You and your Peridot aren’t on the schedule.”

“Oh well..uh ya see...” Amethyst tried thinking of a cover story. “We were uh...”

“What my guard is trying to say is.” Peridot said pushing her way past Amethyst. The quartz was relieved to see her green girlfriend had successfully found a set of enhancers in time. She currently was showing the square peridot a string of data on the finger screen. “We were just assigned here. Apparently the Upper Crusts want to make sure this job in particular goes smoothly.”

“Hmm...” the square Peridot pondered. “This is highly irregular...but your authentication codes are valid. This way then.” 

Amethyst and Peridot let out a sigh of relief as they were led deeper into the corridor. 

“That was close...” Amethyst sighed. “How did you get that clearance code?”

“I faked it.” Peridot admitted. “From what data I gathered this project has to do with maintenance on a series of power conduits. Blue said that massive amounts of energy flow to and from the core of the planet.”

“Whoa really?” Amethyst gasped. “Any idea what it’s used for?”

“Most goes to power homeworld.” Peridot explained. “But Blue said that a sizeable portion is redirected to one specific place.”

“Where?” Amethyst asked.

“That’s what we’re here to find out.” Peridot said as they continued. Large cables began to snake their way around the roof of the hallway. 

“Your station is this way.” Squareidot motioned as they began passing other Peridots and Amethysts on the job. “Please proceed with your duties. I’ll be back to monitor your progress.”

Peridot discreetly hacked into the network and began tracing the power flow deeper into the complex. 

“We need to head down there.” Peridot said. “There’s a terminal there that we can get exact numbers from.”

When the coast was clear the two slipped away from the homeworld gems and father into the corridor. It began to grow hotter, the cables and cords covering the walls and ceiling buzzed with energy. 

“This place is giving me the creeps.” Amethyst said sheepishly. “It’s like something’s alive around here.”

“According to this data log I’ve found the conduits feed on the energy the core gives off.” Peridot explained. Scrolling through her finger screen. “After the Rose incident on earth White Diamond became enraged and “grief stricken”. Their was a massive energy surge and the planet cracked apart.”

“That seems...really suspicious.” Amethyst observed.”

“I thought so too.” Peridot said. “I believe that White is somehow connected to the core of the planet.”

“How exactly?” Amethyst quizzed.

“We’re about to find out.” Peridot said as she input a security code into a door panel. The door to the power relay room snapped open and the two gems entered, unknowingly tripping a silent alarm.

Several stories above them in the Inner Circle meeting room Cloud Agate reached under her shall and pulled out a holoscreen.

“Hmm...apologies Your Clarity.” She bowed. “I’m needed in the lower levels.” Cloud dismissed herself. She left the room and made her way to the nearest lift. 

“Just what is going on down there.” Cloud wondered. She looked down at her screen. “Unauthorized access? How could that be?” She finally reached the correct level the lift doors slid open once more. As she stepped out into the conduit corridor Squareidot approached her.

“C Cloud Agate!” Squareidot greeted. “This is unexpected. What brings you to our work site?”

“The automated alarm system in the relay room activated.” Cloud reported. “Are all your workers and their bodyguards accounted for?” 

Squareidot quickly ordered her workforce to form up for a head count.

“Everyone seems to be here...” Squareidot counted. “Aside from the two late additions.”

“Late additions?” Cloud inquired?”

“They had codes.” Squareidot confirmed.

“Did anyone see these two slip off somewhere?” Cloud addressed the assembled gems. One of the Amethyst soldiers said she saw the pair in question slip away deeper into the corridor.

“I’ll investigate the matter personally.” Cloud Agate ordered. “The rest of you are dismissed. Keep up the good work alright?” As the crowd dispersed and got back to their jobs Cloud Agate made her way down the corridor. Her datapad beeped. The display showing the power flow data was being accessed earlier than scheduled. Whoever these two late comers were they were still inside.

The door snapped open and infront of the Agate eyes glued to the computer read out was a Peridot and her Amethyst.

“And what do you think you two are doing?” Cloud called.  
Peridot and Amethyst whipped around.

“M my Agate!” Peridot improvised, pulling a salute before jabbing Amethyst in the ribs. Amethyst threw up a salute aswell. “We uh...we detected an anomaly in the power flow an and we...”

“And you failed to report this to your superior?” Cloud questioned. 

“This required immediate response.” Peridot lied.

“Something doesn’t feel right here.” Cloud deadpanned. “I’m starting to think you two shouldn’t be he...” the Silver Agate suddenly stopped talking taking notice of the screen behind the stiff crystal gems. “Those read outs can’t be accurate.” She barged her way past Amethyst and Peridot and began inputting commands into the computer. 

“How could the energy spike so high so quickly.” She said as she typed.

“Spike?” Peridot asked. “The power readouts indicate the output is at a low point.” She pulled up readings from months ago. The readings were still insanely high with the current day reaching a slight dip.

“But...” Cloud gasped. “My reports say that we barely have the power to maintain our equipment.” She pulled up her own logs on her tablet. These readings were substantially lower than the main computer’s.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Amethyst observed.

“Let me see that.” Peridot said taking the flabbergasted Agate’s pad. She looked at it for a moment before running a program on the device. “As i suspected. There’s a data mask on your device. Someone doesn’t want you seeing behind the curtain as it were.”

“My data is being faked?” Cloud Agate said surprised. “The Diamonds will want to see this.” She paused for a moment. “Look I don’t know who you both are but consider yourselves in my custody until I can get to the bottom of this and report this. Who sent you!?”

“Blue Diamond.” Peridot quipped.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Cloud snapped. “She’s in exile! She couldn’t possibly have come back and...what are you doing?”

Peridot had pointed her limb enhancer blaster at the surprised Agate while Amethyst drew her whip.

“You can consider yourself in our custody until we bring this data back to Blue Diamond.” Amethyst taunted. “We’ll play nice if you cooperate with us and we’ll all be on our way. Blue has some questions for White.”

Seeing she had no way out Cloud agreed.

As the door slid open and Amethyst reminded her that the three of them were just on their way to see a Diamond, Cloud Agate groaned.

“I’m definitely going to be shattered for this....”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m totally not ded! Kinda a long period between updates ha ha! I’ll do my best to get the next one out sooner! Only a few chapters left until everyone lives happily ever after!....or not...maybe...
> 
> Someone will die...or not.
> 
> This joke isn’t funny....or is it!
> 
> No...it’s not. Definitely not.


	20. Infiltration: A Pearl’s Resolve.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azure has some self doubt as she makes her way to meet with her allies.

After the door shut behind Blue when she began talking to Yellow, Azure immediately began hurrying towards the area where Stevonnie and Lapis should have made their entrance in. After the three of them grouped up they were to scout out the route up to White Diamond’s personal chamber.

The palace was a maze of hallways and corridors, and White’s personal chamber was located deep under the surface of Homeworld. Hopefully with Sapphire and Peridot’s teams pulling as much data as possible from the palace networks the Crystal Gems could figure out a way to bypass any automated security that Yellow Diamond didn’t have command of. If she agreed to help them that was.

The brave blue pearl did her best to blend into the crowd as she made her way toward what she hoped was the rendezvous point. She did what she could to remind herself that here, on homeworld, she was ‘just another pearl’. It made her more upset than she wanted to admit. She no longer felt like a cog in the homeworld machine, like she was out of place. She just wanted to go back home. But this mission was too important to give up now.

Azure promised herself that no matter what happened, she and the rest of the Crystal Gems would be able to return home and live how they chose. No more hierarchy, no more homeworld, no...more...servitude.

As she weaved her way through the crowds of elite gems she could feel a tightness in her chest. For the first time in her thousands of years Azure began to panic. She began to breathe fast and deep, a hand around her gemstone. It felt like it would pop free from her chest if she let it. She forced herself to keep putting one foot infront of the other hoping Lapis and Stevonnie would make it inside without incident. 

Finally the crowds thinned as Azure slipped into the lower levels. If anyone asked she was delivering a message to the Peridot Forman. Just a little bit further and she’d be at the service hatch.

The shaking pearl rounded the corner and slipped inside the hatch into a small locker room. No one was there.... Azure’s heart sank and became a hard cold knot in her core. She leaned against a set of lockers and let her self slide to the floor. Her legs tucked up against her chest. After everything on Earth homeworld felt so wrong. Lapis and Stevonnie should have been here by now. What could she do on her own now? She was just one in a million worthless dispensable servants that were easily forgotten about. She didn’t know when but Azure broke down. The scared little pearl felt tears roll down her face. She missed the beach, she missed her drawings, she missed her hoodie, she missed going into town and her classes with Miss Vidalia, she missed...home. 

She lost track of time. Had it been a few minutes? A few hours? The hatch door suddenly flew open and Azure jumped banging her head on the lockers behind her. 

“Whoa Azure!” Came a familiar voice.

“Are you ok?” Came another that wasn’t but seemed like it should. She looked up and saw Lapis and a tall feminine looking human with Steven’s gem wearing a mix of Steven and Connie’s clothing. This must have been Stevonnie. Azure thrust herself into their arms. 

“I was so scared!” She sobbed as Stevonnie cradled her. “I hate it here a...and I thought something happened I didn’t know what to do! A a a and...!”

“Shhhh.” Stevonnie soothed. “It’s ok we’re here now.”

“I’m sorry!” Azure went on bawling. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never felt so...worthless before. I’m so scared.”

“Azure.” Lapis said calmly. The Pearl looked up from Stevonnie’s shoulder.

“I’m scared too.” The ocean gem said. “The one place I spent so long running from and I’m here.” Lapis’s voice shook a little. “But this is so we can all have the lives we want. White Diamond won’t stop with this planet. Eventually she’ll come for Earth.”

“I know...” Azure whimpered.

“I know your scared.” Lapis said. “But your so brave right now too.”

“I...I am?” Azure stopped crying and pulled out of Stevonnie’s arms. 

“Your scared fit to shatter but you tougher it out to get here.” Lapis praised. “Bravery is about what you do even if your terrified. It’ll be over soon. We have a Diamond fighting with us. Maybe two if things go well. White won’t stand an chance and we can all go home. Besides...I couldn’t imagine the Crystal Gems without you and Blue anymore.”

“Right!” Azure said perking up a bit. How could she forget. She wasn’t just a random pearl. She was Blue’s former pearl turned best friend. She may have been one of millions of Pearls but there was only one Azure.

“Same here!” Stevonnie chimed in. “Now I believe we have security to scout!”

“Follow me.” Azure said with a determination she didn’t know she had. She pushed open the room’s hatch door and bravely stepped into the hall way towards White Diamond’s personal chamber.

Along the way there was a series of footsteps. Rounding a corner they nearly bumped into Amethyst and Peridot escorting a Cloud Agate. The officer groaned as she realized there were more conspirators. The group continued on until they met up with Ruby Sapphire and Pearl who was now back in her usual attire.

“Y your Clarity!” Cloud Agate gasped. “Your with them!!!?”

“Sorry.” Sapphire shrugged. 

“I can’t believe I just...blabbed confidential information AND left you in one of the most secure rooms with access to our network!” Cloud moaned. “I’ll be shattered for sure!”

“Oh relax Cloudy!” Amethyst slapped the officer on the back. “We won’t let the Diamonds touch ya!”

“You did what?” Came a familiar voice and a pair of heavy footsteps coming from a nearby hall. Yellow and Blue Diamond appeared out of the darkness.

“Blue!” Azure gasped dashing forward to embrace her leg. Blue reached down to tossle her friend’s hair.

“M m my Diamond!” Cloud Agate stammered. “Forgive me I had no idea that they were...!”

“Crystal Gems yes I know.” Yellow interrupted. “Blue told me everything. And if even half of what she said is true than it’s clear we need to atleast talk to White about this.”

Cloud Agate looked confused.

“Half of what?” She asked.

“Well....” Blue sighed rubbing the back of her head. “It’s a long story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final showdown is nearly upon us! How will our unfortunate Agate handle this illusion shattering news? How will White handle Yellow knowing exactly what she’s been doing behind everyone’s back and ordering Pink’s death!?
> 
> Stay tuned to find out!


	21. The calm before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gems gather themselves and prepare for the confrontation with white.

As Peridot compiled all the data the rest of the gems exchanged stories. No one had the full picture of events transpiring on the Gem planet but all could agree that it was something big. 

Yellow Diamond looked on the group with mild disgust. The Ruby and Sapphire had fused into that abomination Blue had told her about from five thousand years ago, the Pearls were displaying far too much autonomy and lack of respect for Blue’s title as a Diamond. The yellow matriarch was eighty percent sure that the Peridot among then was the one that had insulted her some time ago. The Lapis kept glaring at her and the runt of an Amethyst was scribbling on a pad of a strange white material with Blue’s Pearl. The Pearl was shaking a little. But what interested Yellow was the one they called, Steven.

The human with Pink’s gem. It was bad enough that Pink had somehow...transformed into this...”child” or whatever blue said it was, but did it have to bring along another human too? These Crystal Gems had the yellow matriarch stumped. How could they function without the hierarchy? Why hadn’t Blue taken command from that hideous fusion? Surely her status as a Diamond gave her the right to do so. 

Yellow was lost in her thoughts. Everything she knew about White was called into question. Did Pink unknowingly set off some kind of change in white after centuries of disobedience, or was she always as horrid as Blue claimed? 

Yellow’s eyes lingered on Blue’s hip. It was impossible to ignore the bright star emblazoned upon her robe. 

Presently Blue noticed as Yellow was starting at her.

“What?” Blue asked?

“You joined them after all?” Yellow sighed. 

“Yes.” Blue smiled. 

“Why?” Yellow puzzled. “I can’t understand it Blue...”

“Because...” Blue said carefully. “I’m...happy on earth. Pink was so right to defend it like she did. I’m sad that Pink really is gone but I’m so proud of her.”

“You’re ...proud she turned traitor!?” Yellow said stunned.

“In a way yes.” Blue smiled. “After all those decades we constantly told her to shape up, to take charge, to act like a Diamond, she finally did! Pink took a stand for what she believed in Yellow. That’s why I stand with the Crystal Gems, I believe that Pink was right to fight for every gem to be who they wanted.”

Yellow said nothing. She stared off into space contemplating Blue’s words.

“Yellow?” Blue asked. “Are you happy?”

“Of course I am!” Yellow snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve colonized dozens of worlds for the sake of the empire! I’m a shining example to my court! I’m well respected by my troops and gladly support gem kind’s expansion.”

“Yellow.” Blue sighed. “Don’t think of it from a part in the machine. Personally, are you happy?”

Yellow’s face wavered.  
“No.” She sighed. “It’s getting harder to complete my assignments, nothing is quite well enough anymore. White’s gotten worse since you left. I’m at my limit truthfully. I’m not sure how much longer we can live up to her standards.”

“Then its time to talk to her.” Blue put a hand on Yellow’s shoulder. “We can make things better for every gem! We don’t need to conquer anymore planets we don’t need to suppress anyone any more. We can be happy. White needs to be held accountable to her actions.”

“You don’t mean?”

“I do.” Blue said brimming with confidence. “We arrest white for crimes against the authority. Pink may have been the weakest of us but she was still a Diamond. Are you with me?”

Yellow sniffed trying to hold back her emotions. “Yes.”

The Crystal Gems one by one voiced their support for Blue’s plan.

“Fine.” Yellow relented. “We’ll do it your way, but we talk to her first.”

“Of course.” Blue said calmly.

“Ummm.” Peridot chimed in. “That might be a problem.”

“And why is that?” Yellow but in.

“Because she’s feeding directly on the core.” 

“Impossible!” Cloud Agate burst out. “H how could a gem even a Diamond feed directly on the core’s energy!”

“Trust a Crystal traitor to misread simple...” Yellow grabbed the finger screen and stopped. “This can’t be right.”

“Now before I was interrupted by a frankly rude clod.” Peridot sassed. Yellow’s eyes narrowed as she realized that it was the same Peridot that insulted her. “There is a massive flow of energy from the core directly into White’s private chamber in the deepest part of the palace.” 

“Another thing White has lied about.” Blue scoffed.

“And another thing!” Peridot said, her limb enhancers clanking on the stone floor until she was infront of Cloud Agate.

“W what is it!” She stammered. Peridot snatched the Agate’s Silver Dagger. In a motion Peridot shattered the blade and the hilt. Wires and microchips spilled out. “These daggers are secret listening devices! White distributes them to those she wants to keep tabs on! Personnel, projects, everywhere she can’t be seeing as how she hasn’t left her chamber in millennium!”

“So...that means...” Cloud began to tear up. “I I wasn’t favored by my Diamond!? She was just spying on me!” She fell to her knees.

“Aww poor thing.” Amethyst sighed giving the Agate a head pat.

“Cloud Agate I know this is a lot at the moment but please stay strong.” Blue Diamond said. “We’re gonna make everything right I promise.”

“Y yes my Diamond.” Cloud sniffed.

“Ok everyone!” Steven announced. “It’s time we all had a talk with White!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a couple chapters left you guys! The confrontation is finally upon us!


	22. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We’re in the Endgame now.

As the Crystal Gems entered the deep interior of White’s palace the air became uncomfortably still. A massive, featureless white hallway stretched onwards deeper and deeper towards White Diamond’s throne room. 

Blue absentmindedly clutched the star across her hip. This was it. She thought back to the trial. Back when the crystal gems were nothing more than filthy rebels worthy of nothing more than extermination, vile scum that took Pink from her. All she wanted was retribution against those she thought responsible.

Until of course the actual trial occurred. It was clear the being everyone was calling Rose Quartz turned out to be Steven. Suddenly nothing made sense. Her Zircon May have been grasping at straws when she suggested a Diamond was responsible, but she turned out to be correct. And now here she was, a member of the very faction she once swore to destroy.

Yellow was lost in her own doubts. The empire she served for longer than she could remember was a sham. She turned a blind eye to all her doubts about the empire in a misplaced sense of loyalty and pride that the Diamond Authority knew what was best for the rest of the universe. 

How could something like this have escaped her notice? Suddenly White wasn’t who she remembered. How much of what she knew was a lie? 

Cloud Agate was running similar thoughts through her head aswell. She hadn’t won White’s favor through her hard work and dedication to the cause like she dreamed of...she was just a cog in the machine...she hadn’t really worked her way up through the ranks and earned her position as an elite gem. She was coming to terms with the fact she...wasn’t special.

Amethyst, Garnet, Pearl and the rest of the Crystal Gems were preparing themselves. For what, exactly they didn’t know. Memories flashed back to White’s little visit back on Earth. To how she executed her own soldiers in a near instant. If that much power was coursing through her pearl, how much more power did White herself have. Too much. Too much for them to handle. A makeshift plan was taking shape with every step. 

Pearl began whispering to Azure to take Cloud Agate and find a way to shut the off the power flow from the core. White Diamond would be all but invincible so long as her connection to the core was still up. There had to be a computer, a switch, a big button that said “Do not press” anything.

Cloudy was shaky and confused. It was treason! Wasn’t it? Was it betrayal when someone you looked up to and admired was lying to you the entire time? Still confused she agreed. 

Lapis’ instinctive response was to run. To Fly away as fast as she could and save her own skin. But this time was different, this time she didn’t feel...alone. Things were hard ever since she got out of the mirror, Jasper, running and coming back. Being alone for so long made her realize what she had before she threw it away. A family. Her instinct to run was strong. But somehow. Fading with each step.

Peridot was hacking into her “borrowed” limp enhancers. Overclocking the weapon systems and removing the safety parameters. She’s come a long way from homeworld metaphorically. When she was first made if you had told her she’d end up laughing at old human television, joining a group of renegade gems, going on dates with an Amethyst not much taller than she was and even eating human foods, she would have laughed in your face at how absurd it was. Now it was even more absurd when she pictured where she’d be without everything she gained on Earth. 

Steven and Connie didn’t say a word the entire way down the hall. This was it.

After what seemed like forever they reached the end. Blue and Yellow opened it and the group entered the throne room of White Diamond.

She stood at the end of the room. Twice as tall as Blue and Yellow, arms outstretched, unmoving like a statue. Her eyes looked down and her lips curled into an amused grin.

“Good good!” She laughed. “You saved me the bother of hunting you down! Now....” she paused.

“Shall we begin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost finished lads n lasses!


End file.
